‘AFRIMA awards will change the narrative of African music’
Could you share with us the motivation behind starting AFRIMA?It was about recreating and rebuilding a stronger music industry in Africa that is much more sustainable. It was about creating a business, an enterprise out of music. Many African artistes die poor, what we’ll be addressing at a summit which will hold two days before […]
Could you share with us the motivation behind starting AFRIMA?
It was about recreating and rebuilding a stronger music industry in Africa that is much more sustainable. It was about creating a business, an enterprise out of music. Many African artistes die poor, what we’ll be addressing at a summit which will hold two days before the award is creating a sustainable music industry.
There are various music awards like MAMA and AFRIMMA, what’s AFRIMA’s place in all of this?
The other awards are very category and specifics driven. Then difference with AFRIMA is that we are an African continent music award. We’ve got a number of categories and are not categorised by country, region, and music category like a video category or a general category. It’s all about African music in the context of the continent.
AU recently endorsed AFRIMA what kind of boost do you imagine this will give to the award?
While we’re helping the AU meet their objectives and mandates, I think what they bring to the table is the pulling together of the African story to create. We don’t want to leave any African out of this but rather create the metaphorical borders in the African states. What we want is to project one Africa and the AU is helping us do this; to show that we are an African project. So forget the borders. The AU is one of the respected bodies on the continent and one of the very few, if not the only one that cause member states together throughout the continent. It definitely helps us to send out that message that we are an African project.
You talked about categories that make up AFRIMA; how much would you say they represent Africa?
I’d say a hundred per cent. If you look at the five African regions that our structure focuses on, in terms of content it is African. In addition, one of the things we’re looked at is in the procurement of our events. We need to ensure that at least seventy per cent of our procurement occurs on the continent, regardless which country will be hosting the event. Like 2014 will hold in Nigeria but we can source from across the continent before we start looking at the US or UK. We’re making sure we create an economic boost for the music and cultural industry that will also support other industries that are indirectly linked to the music and culture industry.
What are you looking out for in the contenders?
Creativity, likeability, authenticity…entries must have been produced and aired in the last twelve months. We’re looking at old, new, traditional, contemporary talents.
What do participants stand to gain from the event?
The biggest benefit would be the PR and marketing that an artiste or a song can get from an event like this. After such an event and even during, social media goes crazy. There are reviews, interviews so the amount of publicity kind of quadruples their potential income or sales.
What should fans expect at the ceremony?
The award was originally planned for October 25th but will now hold on November 11th. They should expect a world-class production filled with entertainment and a lot of substance.
For big names they should expect, we would like to keep a secret for now. We don’t want to give it all away. There are negotiations going on with some international stars, though we don’t want to make it too internationalised. But we definitely want to bring in a surprise element in that regard.
AFRIMA is described as a narrative of African music, culture and heritage. How should a lay person interpret this?
It’s telling the African story and the story of its culture, tradition and music by Africans. If we don’t tell our stories as Africans, someone will see the opportunity, identify the opportunity and tell it on our behalf.
At the February Centenary conference the Kenyan Vice President made a point of this when he said we Africans should be able to tell the African narrative themselves. It’s been a long time since we’ve taken ownership of our continent from a business, storytelling, and cultural perspective. People come here, do documentaries and make so much money from it and we’re not doing anything about it.
How challenging was it for Nigeria to win AFRIMA hosting rights?
It was really tough. The competition was against countries like South Africa. I’m not being biased because I’m South African but considering the different logistical problems that could occur between South Africa and Nigeria, the musical talents that come out of both countries and even Kenya which is another power house, it wasn’t easy. Africa has got a lot of cou8htries that are making a lot of strides in music with have talents and potentials. Any county would want such an event on their soil to boost and brand it.
What measures are in place to ensure its success?
What will make or break the event, I think is the production. We’re ensuring we produce a world-class event and we’re doing by engaging with professionals and well-experienced in producing events of this type. The team that will be doing is are from different countries; Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana; basically from across Africa. We’re ensuring that the people who are putting the story together are very experienced in doing that and in seeing the vision and bringing that vision to pass. We’re also making sure we’re well partnered with good media houses.
What is AFRIMA’s definition of ‘African Music’?
It is any music that has produced in Africa, by Africans and has origins of Africa in terms of creativity, production. What this does is that we know a huge chunk of the revenue that comes from the music stays in Africa.
What of works by Africans targeting Africans but produced abroad?
There is a category for the Diaspora. If the work is produced abroad and consumed in Africa, where does the artiste’s management sit? Some of them are world stars not just Nigerian like PSquare, and need to use the best available material to produce. So we consider the chunk of their revenue resides, where it is distributed and who benefits the most. Foreign studios may benefit from the rentals and use of their equipment. But then, how else does it impact locally?
What has the response to AFRIMA been like?
We’ve received over 2, 000 entries, which is very telling of the reception and excitement around the awards. Even with the KORA awards which received about 80 entries. We’ve just returned from our second trip to the AU who is also eager to partner and we’re planning a workshop together. If it was a meaningless event, I don’t think we’d have this kind of support. Also, there are lots of involvements from the Nigerian ministries of culture and trade and investment amongst others.
How do you intend for AFRIMA to stay ahead of the competition with the likes of MAMA?
It’s highly competitive but I go again to the production quality. It’s also about giving our partners what we promised we would because they are the ones who will keep the project going. It’s about maintaining these relations and keeping integrity and harmony with everyone we’re working with at all times as well as listening to the views of musicians themselves. After this first edition, there’ll be a lot of feedback. It’s about taking this feedback and putting into our plan for next year and ensure it works better.
You emphasised the Africanity of AFRIMA, why is the concert, ‘On the way to AFRIMA’ planned for New York?
This was a concept to do concerts around London, New York, Paris and in six or seven African states. The reason we chose these Western countries is because of the number of the diaspora community that are there; because they are still Africans.
What’s the composition of the AFRIMA team?
The founders looked at individuals who can offer value in different spheres or disciplines, regardless what part of the continent they’re from. They have different specialities like Mike Strano who is regional director for East Africa who is a music event production specialist. It was based on experience, professionalism, reference and what they can add to the project.