Akon, Kelly Hilson, Folakemi, others perform in ‘Pepsi Oh Africa’ song to raise funds for poor African youths
The track (song and video) commissioned by Pepsi International was formally launched into the Nigerian market on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 in Lagos in what has been described as a celebration of Africa. The track features artistes from China, Turkey, Romania, Thailand, Vietnam, Poland, Spain, Egypt, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, US, Mexico, Greece and UK. In […]
The track (song and video) commissioned by Pepsi International was formally launched into the Nigerian market on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 in Lagos in what has been described as a celebration of Africa. The track features artistes from China, Turkey, Romania, Thailand, Vietnam, Poland, Spain, Egypt, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, US, Mexico, Greece and UK.
In the making of the video, Akon said the song is a complete rendition of Africa’s rich traditions and colours.
“The song brings out all the cultures in Africa, heavy visuals colour and drums. The tracks are downloadable to raise funds for the poor African youths,” he said.
‘Oh Africa’, written by hip hop duo and writers to the stars, Rock City, and produced by Prettiboifresh, sees 16 aspiring young music artists from around the world join forces with international superstar Akon and singing sensation Keri Hilson. A portion of the proceeds from the energetic new track, which will also be the soundtrack for the Pepsi’s 2010 football campaign, will go towards supporting disadvantaged African youths. Akon’s Konfidence Foundation and other great charities designated by Keri Hilson and Pepsi will partner in the distribution of funds. The artists founded the charity foundation in 2006. It has his mother, Ms. Kine Gueye Thiam, as President
Mr. Siddahartan Mane, business and systems development manager, Pepsi, said at the official launch that “the song is composed especially to celebrate Africa at this important moment of hosting the world cup in Africa which will take place this summer in South Africa. The song is intended to welcome the rest of the world to Africa and showcase our love to them.”
Keri Hilson commented on the fact that the track is giving back to charity: “I’m very glad that I could take part in doing something positive for people who I’ve never met and that’s always a great feeling.”
The track will be used across Pepsi’s football 2010 advertising campaign and form the centrepiece of the brand’s new ‘Refresh Your World’ campaign which is based on enabling youths to make a positive change in the world in which they live.
The international release of the track and accompanying video took place on Music’s Biggest Night Sunday, January 31 2010 and was premiered during the Grammy Awards Pre-Telecast stream on “Grammy Live,” an online destination for all things Grammy featuring 72 hours of live coverage on www.grammy.com during Grammy weekend.