The emergence of Afrobeats on the global music market, as well as the exponential growth of several music genres across the continent over the past year, is a breath of fresh air. It is testament to the collective hard work and creative prowess of all key players within Africa’s music space.
The 3Music Awards have always found a way to acknowledge the contributions of the marginalized in music- especially women. In 2020, the awards established the 3Music Women’s Brunch initiative to not only commemorate International Women’s Day but to celebrate and highlight the achievements of women in the industry. Every year the Women’s Brunch is also used to amplify the issues women in the creative industry face.
The Top 50 Women in Music (Africa) which emerged from the 3Music Awards Women’s Brunch is a nod in the same direction, focusing on bringing to light the unsung accomplishments of women who have heralded the invasion of African music on the world stage through creating, enabling and amplifying music.
The annual 3Music Awards highlights the Top 50 most influential women in music each year as a significant feature of the Awards. This year’s release coincides with International Women’s Day celebration making a strong case for breaking the bias with the stories and capabilities of the women who made the list.
The scheme gives credit to women who mainly stood out with their creativity, endeavour and impact, or, in a few cases, exploited their music platform for social good. Accomplishments within the year under review were prioritized, although some retrospective achievements were also considered based on their resonating or sustained effect on music in Africa today.
The initiative is recognition and honour of the standout achievements of female creatives and accessories with the African music space. It is also an intricate gazette of the contributions of women who through excellence in diversified fields of music have propelled the evolution and growth of the African music industry within the year under review.
After several months of research, rigorous scrutiny, analytics and consideration of unquantifiable service to music, we present to you the creators, enablers and amplifiers who have made a difference in the music sphere- in honour of women.
YouTube’s Addy Awofisayo rose through the ranks to her
present seat as Head of Music, Sub-Saharan Africa. Her contributions to
establishing YouTube’s monopoly on the African streaming markets have generated
greater value for artistes, and even greater visibility.
Addy gained valuable expertise in Business Development for
Content Development and Partnerships while working at CBS, which experience she
has successfully brought to bear in her work at YouTube. Since occupying the
role in 2021, nearly 80% of YouTube usage in Africa has been music-related,
effectively establishing the platform as a music service.
Several millions of Africans use the streaming platform
daily, with over a billion views garnered weekly. Music videos from Africa
continue to receive massive patronage from outside the continent too thanks to
Addy Awofisayo’s exertions for YouTube.
Award-winning Amaarae is fast becoming Africa’s finest export to the world with her amazing streaming numbers for genre-defying music, and pop culture impact. She is in fact the continent’s queen of Spotify, and the globe’s reference for Alté music and eccentric lifestyle.
The Ghanaian entertainer raises the bar for branding and sway in music with her distinct vocals, peculiar sound, intrepid videos and revolutionary fashion. She may just be the closest Africa has ever had to the great Michael Jackson, with several conspicuous parallels.
The scrupulous singer always projects holistic musical art with an exceptional dedication to pop culture, a quirky worldview and, honestly, very good era-defining music.
Hers is a powerful testimonial of what women bring to music, already thrusting the young music career of the remarkable Amaarae at the heart of contemporary African music folklore.
Africa’s greatest living female artiste continues to go from
strength after four decades in music. Angelique Kidjo scored three more
nominations at the Grammys this year, following up on her fourth [4th]
Grammy win last year. Winning it in 2021 also established her as the first
African to win three different Grammys in three different decades this
millennium. Her exertions and accomplishments in music, theatre, pop culture,
advocacy and activism are well-documented. Repeating them here may just be
insolent to an icon of her stature.
Malian-French singer Aya Nakamura may just become the first musician born on this continent to hit a billion views for a music video with her classic Djadja. She is outrightly the most streamed African artiste today, partly thanks to her French influence, but largely due to her suave Pop artistry. She won Artiste of the Year at the Apple Music Awards last year, adding up to various distinguished awards and prominent international nominations like the BET, MTV, All Africa and the RNJ Music Awards. Nakamura is a double platinum-selling artiste. She became the first African-born female singer to top the European charts in 2018 following the release of her sophomore self-titled album which also topped several charts in numerous Francophone nations on the continent. The lead single from her third studio album was also certified gold following its release last year, spending two weeks at the summit of the French charts.
Teenage sensation Ayra Starr broke all manner of records with her debut single, Bloody Samaritan. The song, in 2021, became the most played song by a teenager in African music history. It was the second-highest streamed song of the year and peaked at No.1 on several charts in Africa, becoming the first solo by a female act to do so. The song also penetrated the European and American markets, peaking Top 20 on Billboard. It helped to establish Ayra as Africa’s brightest newcomer, and Starr of the new school.
When the Sony-owned music distribution company, The Orchard,
announced that they had signed Beth Achitsa as Artiste and Label Relations
Manager earlier in 2022, the entertainment skies aligned and the music gods
popped champagne.
It had to be her, didn’t it, if anyone was paying attention
to Africa at all. Beth Achitsa keeps beneath the soles of her feet years of
experience across diversified fields in music.
She has served as a Production lead for the East Africa
Music summit, worked with the Lola Kenya Screen Festival, amid other roles as a
Tour Manager, Conference Planner, as well as writer and Marketing
Communications specialist on African music- especially from East Africa.
Benewaah Boateng is not your orthodox music executive. She
gets paid for her passion, and would almost certainly have done it for free.
Thankfully, a polymath of her stature leads the African music revolution at
Spotify West Africa, where she serves as Manager for the Anglophone community.
In Ghana she made her name as a music enthusiast with a passion for finding emerging musicians and marketing strategies across Africa. She founded the Harmattan Rain platform to document prospective hits and hitmakers, and curate exciting playlists from the talents and creations she unearthed.
Soon she was working as a music business consultant and marketing lead for Universal Music. She would also go on to curate playlists for the biggest global streaming platforms, including Apple Music
Benewaah Boateng has dedicated the best part of her adult life creating global opportunities for African music creators and invaluable services to music brands, executives and consumers. She has been extremely helpful in creating global prospects for music from Anglophone Africa.
Popular on-air personality, PR & Media Relations expert, Bukola, is the founder and CEO of BukiHQ Media.
BukiHQ Media is one of the premier PR firms in music show
business. Bukola provides personal brand solutions and other strategic marketing
communications services to her clients. She counts the likes of Burna Boy, Asa, 2Baba, MI, Seyi Shay among her list of clients.
The seasoned music business magnate has also served on the
Board of one of the most successful record labels in West Africa, Chocolate
City Music, as well as the Lagos Jazz Series Festivals.
Bose Ogulu is the manager and mother of the Grammy-winning
artiste Burna Boy. She is known in music circles for her impact on the career
of, perhaps, Africa’s biggest music export of the 21st century.
Mama Burna, as Bose
is affectionately called, heads Spaceship Collective, proprietors of the
flagship Spaceship Entertainment record label and publishing division.
Her work with Burna Boy did not only yield several
international awards, including the BET and the Grammy, but etched Afrobeats
into the echelons of global music.
Busiswa has blessed Kwaito, Dance and, recently, Amapiano with her outstanding creativity and fire material. It makes sense that her loaded literature stems from a background of poetry. These days, as part of a commitment to the Art for Humanity [AfH] foundation, she provides workshops on Poetry and Visual Arts Development for young people.
In ten years, she has established herself as a perennial
force at the biggest Awards events, earning numerous nominations at the MTV
Africa Music Awards, Channel O, and the South African Music Awards. She also received universal acclaim for her
work on Beyoncé’s six-time Grammy-nominated audiovisual album.
Busiswa was one of the most influential artistes of 2021 in
terms of radio play dominance and streaming credits, earning over a 100million
streams across all DSPs. She is the best performing female artiste from
Southern Africa, streaming platinum numbers for every single song she touched
last year.
With ten years experience of the African music market,
Charlotte Bwana is the Head of Media and Brand Partnerships for Audiomack in
Africa.
She was instrumental in facilitating Audiomack’s invasion of
the continent, and its ascent to one of the elite music streaming platforms in
the space.
Charlotte orchestrated strategic partnerships with
youth-driven brands like Afrochella, Ziiki Media, and YFM [South Africa &
Ghana]. She pulled off a masterstroke when she brokered a deal with telecom
giants MTN that made music and content on the platform free to more than eighty
[80] million users through the partnership.
Charlotte has directly impacted African music appeal and
reach. By making music publishing and access free for creators and consumers in
the continent’s biggest market and talent factory, she laid the groundwork for
a greater global impact of African music.
Chioma Onuchukwu is one of Africa’s most popular music
executives. She was appointed as Head of TuneCore for West and East Africa in
2021.
Her work has helped establish the brand as one of Africa’s
biggest independent music distribution platforms, offering trusted services to
creators and music fanatics.
Chioma supports budding music creators to build audiences
and careers through the exploiting of digital distribution, publishing and
promotional services. She has worked with A-list African stars like Davido,
Yemi Alade and Patoranking.
Singer cum Music Executive Cindy Sanyu sits as the President
of the Uganda Music Association these days, transforming it from an agency of
chaos to one of the Top 10 best run music associations in Africa.
Elected as Vice President of the Union by her
contemporaries, Cindy put a new marriage and pregnancy on the line and stepped
up to lead an industry bedeviled with chaos and subversion during a season of
turmoil which also led to the resignation of her predecessor.
Looking out for the good of creatives, she oversaw an
unprecedented registration of all professionals in the space to pave way for
equity in the payment of royalties.
Cindy runs the position alongside a highly successful music
career in its 20th year, which last year also brought an International
Collaboration of the Year at the South Sudan Music Awards to add to a
glittering career littered with many high-profile international honours.
In 2016 she won Best Artiste (East Africa) at the AFRIMA to
become one of only two female acts to earn separate international nominations
both as a solo artiste and member of a music group for her exploits with one of
Africa's most revered girl-bands, Blu 3.
And oh, her screen debut in 2018 also earned her an award
for Best Actor at the Uganda Film Festival and a nomination at the Africa Movie
Academy Awards. Phew. Cindy means light.
Cindy Sanyu may just be the brightest light from East Africa yet.
Being the reigning Artiste of the Year in the third biggest music industry on the continent is no mean feat. Being only the second female artiste to do it is even bigger. Even more impressive is to do it as the only nominated Gospel artiste in the category.
To put it in perspective, Diana Hamilton became only the
second person to ever win the category on two fronts- as a woman, and also as a
Gospel artiste in more than two decades. She will go down in history as the
first female Gospel artiste to achieve the feat, a very rare occurrence at the
most important awards shows on the continent.
Her spirit-filled songwriting, impressive live vocals, and
exceptional stagecraft continue to lead the way for women in African
entertainment and the Gospel space. Her impressive streaming numbers, one of
the highest in West Africa for a female, is evidence of Diana’s successful
exertions in resuscitating the appeal for Gospel music.
Nigeria’s DJ Switch demonstrated Music for good in November 2020 when she live-streamed the now infamous shooting of civilians staging a protest against the government near the Lekki tollgate.
The shootings, allegedly on the instructions of the
higher-ups, occurred when the military fired several rounds into the protesting
crowd in a well-orchestrated ploy which also involved the use of deliberate
power outage to avoid filming.
Thankfully DJ Switch was on hand, feeding the aftermath of
the shootings live via social media. Her feed was tapped by numerous
international media, including the BBC and CNN, leading to a massive global
outrage against the perpetrators of such cowardly social injustice.
Breaking onto the music scene in 2009, Switch first came to
Africa’s attention for winning two separate reality show competitions, first as
a member of a group and then as a solo act. She also signed to Sony Music a few
years after departing the music group with which she released the revered So Tey single that also featured
international rapper Busta Rhymes on the remix.
However, it was the Lekki Livestream that truly marked her
out from her contemporaries, setting DJ Switch apart that year, and forever.
Rapper Eno Barony in 2021 became the first female in Africa to win Rapper of the Year or its equivalent at an important national music awards event. It also made her only the seventh female in the world to accomplish that feat, following in the footsteps of legends like Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott and Queen Latifah.
In Ghana, the story of how Eno’s strict Missionary parents
had been pained when she revealed her career choice to them a decade ago is
well documented. Her late mother, in desperate heartbreak had asked her, “Which
is easier for a lady, becoming a doctor or a successful rapper?”
She won her first international award in 2020 at the
AFRIMMA, being adjudged the Best Female Rapper in Africa. And then she stopped
fighting women and started beating the men. When she historically won the Best
Rapper of the Year at the 3Music Awards, and then its equivalent Best Rap
Performance of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards, she was the only female in
both category lists.
Afro Hip Hop Legend Reggie Rockstone has described her as
“an inspirational rapper of her generation” and “one of the greatest rappers of
our time whose tag of female rapper has done her more harm than good”, while
Okyeame Kwame described her as “The best rapper around currently”. Rival
Sarkodie labeled her as “a coequal, a rap titan who cannot in any way be
discredited because she is a female”.
These days Eno Barony is not breaking her parent’s hearts
and lowering expectations. She is breaking records and setting standards for
women in music.
Ghita Khaldi is a board member on Africa’s most important online music portal, Music in Africa. She is a music production and technical control expert with an in-depth knowledge of music and arts.
She founded the Casablanca-based intercultural association
Afrikayna, an Arabic portmanteau for ‘Africa is here.' Afrikayna is dedicated
to aligning Northern African music with the rest of Africa while providing
mobility funds in support of African artistes.
She also exploits her role as Production and Co-ordination
lead at some of North Africa’s biggest arts and culture festivals to promote
African music- especially ones of Northern African origin.
Gina Ella Nettey’s work is unusual but fundamental. She offers bespoke logistics services for music events.
She founded Genet Services, an events management agency and Ghana’s foremost logistics
and equipment firm which has for many years catered for the biggest entertainment
events in Africa’s third-best music industry.
Genet Services
is also the brain behind the Women in Worship Concert, one of the most
exceptional Christian music concerts in West Africa. The platform also
celebrates the accomplishments of women each year in the Gospel music space.
Not many teenagers score a buzz as feverish as Gyakie did with her Forever single, off her highly successful debut EP Seed. The song was very well-received across Africa, topping several high-profile charts such as the Billboard and Shazam, and making her one of the only teenage ladies from Africa to achieve the feat.
In 2021 she signed to Sony Music, the second biggest
recording and publishing franchise in the world, again becoming only the second
teenager from Africa to do so.
Gyakie's performance video and the live delivery by Highlife
ace Nana Acheampong at the 3Music Awards '21 was also very symbolic as it was
the first time on the continent that a father and child had performed on
separate sets at the same music awards event.
Aibee has been at Chocolate City for a decade, overseeing
the label’s music business and strategy.
The label caters for award-winning stars like MI Abaga and DJ Lambo
among others.
Aibee is famous for coordinating that unprecedented
partnership between Warner Music Group and Chocolate City Group that sparked
the fire which set music from Africa’s biggest industry ablaze.
Former Marketing Manager for Youth and Music Channels at
Multichoice Jade Leaf was appointed Head of Tunecore for Southern Africa.
While at Multichoice, Jade was directly responsible for the
marketing and commercial successes of prominent music television brand, Channel
O.
Jade also worked at Sony Music Entertainment Africa, where
she drove numerous marketing campaigns for several artistes and content.
She helped establish Tunecore as arguably the most trusted
digital DIY music distribution service in Southern Africa, leading to
commercial success for hundreds of musicians, as well as a huge representation
of Southern African music in the global music market.
Jade Pollock is a world-class music business specialist and
manager of Wizkid, one of Africa’s top three music brands today. She met Wizkid
whilst managing global icon, Chris Brown. She has also managed stars like Pia
Mia and Akon.
Jade is an expert in Marketing & PR, Brand Management,
Project Management, and Content strategy, but her best work yet still remains
establishing Grammy award-winning Wizkid at the top of global music.
After helping Wizkid crack the American and British markets,
Billboard named her as its “Executive of the week’ in September 2021. Jade was
the driving force behind the rise of the Afrobeats star to chart-topping
success on the world’s foremost music chart platform.
Jade Pollock may be American although she stays in Ghana
these days since becoming a mother to Wizkid’s third baby. Her contributions to
the rise of Afrobeats and holistic impact on African music excellence cannot be
understated.
Jenifer Imion spearheads recruitment and enterprise at Mavin Global, the parent company of Mavin Records which has expedited the careers of several African music superstars.
Her responsibilities also include managing talents, music
content creation, as well as business partnerships and dealings.
It’s impossible to credit contemporary Gospel greatness without acknowledging the impact of Judikay over the past few years. She is just a Gospel hit-making factory. No single Gospel act has bigger hits in Gospel music today than her. None have owned the digital space with such effortless grace this calendar as she has. Her presence is felt, her songs reverberate, and her numbers shout at you. She averages 10 million views for every music video released in the last year and a half, scoring over 300 million streams across audio streaming platforms in that time.
The rise of Lyza Ntiamoah in the music space has coincided with Ghana’s own rise in world music. She is the country manager at Boomplay Ghana, and an expert in music marketing, management, and business.
Lyza has used her expertise and music acumen to refine the music
show business, creating immeasurable value for the Ghanaian music brand.
Ghana music aggregated the highest rise in terms of percentile
impact and streaming numbers in 2021, becoming the third fastest-growing
industry in the world and a global go-to plug for music.
Ranked among the top 10 for global music appeal, Lyza’s work
has been central to positioning Ghana as a major music tourism destination.
Under Lyza’s stewardship, Boomplay has offered much-needed funding and support
to aid artiste projects like EP and Album launches, concerts, and tours.
Lyza has also established Boomplay as a key supporter for
music events, a corporate industrial responsibility initiative that has been
rare and lacking in the Ghanaian music space. She has been instrumental in
activating the careers of several continental newcomers such as Wendy Shay,
Celestine Donkor, Mr. Drew and DopeNation.
No wonder Lyza’s Boomplay is the nation’s favorite digital
streaming platform. Thanks to her efforts, Ghanaian music has truly gone
global, offering music creatives their work’s worth.
Maritt Araba Biney Jensen is the Regional Manager for the music
marketing platform Linkfire. She oversees the promotion of local music and
artistes by fostering strong business development strategies to promote
consumer connections in Africa.
One of her most notable accomplishments was directly spearheading the groundbreaking partnerships with heavyweight labels Chocolate City and Mavin Records, which have significantly leveraged the company’s user gains in the very competitive music streaming services market.
Maritt’s appointment has coincided with increased traffic
from the African market, with millions of users purportedly signing up to the
platform monthly.
Thanks to her acumen and astuteness, she has overseen
massive gains for the African region, especially for artistes and labels. This
has directly resulted in the promotion,
empowerment of African music, and the offering of massive growth opportunities
for the region’s music markets.
She might just be the single greatest female contributor to
the growth of East African music. Martha Huro is a digital marketing specialist
with demonstrated experience in digital optimization.
She is the Boomplay Managing Director for East Africa and
General Manager for Kenya. The ever-increasing usage of the platform and
digital visibility of East African music content and creators have been hinged on Martha’s knack
for fruitful partnerships, groundbreaking strategies, as well as the use of
proficient music curation and artiste support mechanisms.
Martha Huro offers consultancy and support to emerging music
brands on effective digital publishing strategies. This has been essential in
the advancement of music from the Eastern Africa region and beyond, creating
value for several players within the East African Industry.
Maimouna Dembélé is a senior communications expert, media
maven, creative industry specialist, music marketing and PR specialist,
cultural activist, and perhaps most significantly, a leading authority on
African music.
She sits as deputy chair on the Board of Music in Africa,
the continent’s most influential online Information Centre for African music.
Maimouna Dembélé continues to use her vast experience and
wealthy expertise to promote music and pop culture, preserve African music
history, and to keep the world informed on African endeavour and accomplishments
in music.
Mercy Chinwo is an award-winning international Gospel act. She first came to prominence when she won Season 2 of the Nigerian Idol music reality show in 2012.
She is one of the most dominant, most consistent, and most-streamed Gospel artistes across all credits of the last couple of years,
releasing at least seven hits in that
time, including three during this calendar. Chinwo has lost none of her gloss,
while her retrospective accomplishments in music still echo today.
Her numbers made the Top five[5] for most-streamed Gospel Acts
2021, meaning that she deservedly earns her place among the season’s finest
females. You know what they say. It would be impossible to make a list of
shining objects and overlook the sun.
Mpumi Philips is a media maven with more than 20 years of
music industry experience. She did some of her best work as a music supervisor
at Sheer Publishing, where she helped sync music to films and adverts.
She is currently the director of distribution for the
Sony-owned digital distribution company, The
Orchard.
Her work includes connecting music creators and labels to
consumers by offering a platform that delivers maximum returns without
hindering creative freedom.
Zimbabwe Achiever’s artiste of the year Nadia Nakai broke all sorts of records in 2018/19 when she also became the first female to win Best Artiste in Hip Hop at the All Africa Music Awards. In half a decade, she has won six out of 14 awards she has been eligible, including the Best Female Act in Southern Africa at both the SA Hip Hop Awards and the All Africa Music Awards.
Chic Nadia is arguably the continent’s most vogue artiste,
constantly setting standards in fashion, style and stagecraft. She has an award
to show for it too having won Most Stylish Performer in Music at the SA Style
Awards as recently as last year.
The rap ace became one of only two female artistes to be nominated
for Artiste of the Decade at the Southern Africa Hip Hop Awards, along with
contemporary Gigi Lamayne. Nadia, like Lamayne, also has a real chance of
winning the keenly contested 14-member shortlisted category. It is the
strongest indicator yet of her success, consistency, impact, and dominance as a
female artiste in the African Hip Hop genus.
Music is Natasha Stambuli’s superpower. The skies were made for birds. The soil was made for trees. Natasha was made for African music.
As the Country Manager for
Transsnet Music Ltd in Tanzania, she has overseen the explosion of a music
streaming culture which has culminated in a growth of 5 million users since
Natasha took the role. The bona fide music industrialist is reputed as East
Africa’s leading digital influencer for her work with global establishments
like the UN, as well as many other top digital media agencies.
Natasha Stambuli’s strong
dedication to promoting East African music made it the highest-grossing region
at the AFRIMA, besides West Africa, justifying her win at the World Women
Leadership Congress and Awards 2019. She also sits graciously on the Africa
List, which is a selected community of next generation CEO s in Africa’s most
exciting growth markets.
All hail Oladunnie Lawal. Queen of beats. Maker of hits. Vocalist extraordinaire. Singer and songwriter. First of her kind.
Dunnie is arguably the most outstanding female beatmaker on
the continent. She is also a fairly successful recording artiste in her own
right, dropping two well-received singles in the calendar.
Remember Becca’s No
One hitbanger which featured Busiswa and DWP academy? Mmm hmm, that was
Dunnie that time on the beats. The exceptional beat-making artist has also earned
production credits on content from some of the continent’s finest, including Yemi
Alade, Wande Coal, Sean Tizzle, Buju, Sarz, and Focalist, as well as brands
like Ciroc, Oppo and Maggi.
“When I started producing beats, people did not take me
seriously. They thought it was cute but nothing serious... It was sort of
sexist” Dunnie says in an interview published on YouTube in March 2021 that
tells a lot about the perspectives and struggles of women in music, especially
her sphere of work.
The trailblazing producer also has a lot of credit in the
bag for her music career too. It was Dunnie’s song for real, that Overdose Remix with Oxlade. In 2021, she
also dropped the not-talked-about-enough Mosafejo
song. That’s just so you know how
much of a good artiste, vocalist, and songwriter she is.
Oluyemisi is a famed legal consultant and reputed as West
Africa’s foremost entertainment lawyer. She offers legal representation and
counsel to some of the biggest names in African entertainment.
Her expertise stretches across all legal aspects of music
show business, including entertainment law, intellectual property law and
general music business law. Her clients include top stars like Adekunle Gold
and Wande Coal.
Osagie Osarenz is a talent manager with more than ten years
of music business experience. She worked for Empire Mates Entertainment [EME],
one of West Africa’s first truly global record labels.
She is credited with spotting global superstar Wizkid, and has also shaped the careers of many top artistes like Banky W, Skales, Timaya, Reekado Banks, Kel and Laycon.
In 2021 she took up a job as the country manager for Nigeria’s ONE-rpm, a digital distribution service consumer- engagement platform.
Osagie Osarenz has provided a platform for nearly hundred
thousand musicians to be heard and visibility for music video creators, labels
and music content publishers in Nigeria. Her innovative methods have driven
global esteem for the African music industry.
She is recognized as one of the biggest contributors to the global impact of the Afrobeats genre, working these days with stars like Flavour, Timaya, and Bella Shmurda on the ONErpm roster.
Grammy Award-winning Malian musician Oumou Sangaré is a symbol for women in music all over the world. The UNESCO International Music prize conferred on her last year was perhaps late recognition for many years of unparalleled contribution to African music development and advocacy.
At age five [5], she performed to a packed crowd in a
stadium before touring the world at 16 with a percussion band she belonged
to. She has played at nearly every major
International Music festival too. These days she is an ambassador of the FAO
and her motherland, particularly the Wassoulou region. She is a renowned
advocate for social justice as well as women's and children’s rights.
Oumou Sangaré is also a very successful entrepreneur, with
involvement in real estate, agriculture, and the automobile industry. To inspire
a spirit of excellence in women, she personally helped in the construction of
her own hotel in the centre of Mali’s capital and launched her own vehicle
brand a decade ago.
Award-winning lawyer and music business executive
Oyinkansola Fawehinmi has distinguished herself in Africa as the continent’s foremost music business attorney.
She is the President of the Digital Music Commerce and
Exchange Ltd in Nigeria, an organization dedicated to creating value for the
African music market through the provision of specialized intellectual property
valuation, licensing, administration, and protection services.
Oyinkansola, also sometimes called FozaDoza, offers legal consultancy
to her clients on protecting assets, proceeding strategically, effectively
monetizing digital music consumption, and exploiting gains in African music
show business.
Phiona Okumu was born to Ugandan parents in Nairobi-Kenya but spent much of her formative years impacted by her experiences of Southern and Northern Africa. It tells in her understanding and appreciation of African music, arts, and culture.
Very
few people in music share Phiona’s infectious passion for elevating emerging
musicians, supporting artiste development, and creating the right environment
for the ideal music ecosystem.
It’s
the foundation of her success at Spotify, where she has a digital music market
widely acclaimed as the most essential to African music development.
The analytics and business intelligence expert sits on the board of Mavin Records, one of the biggest record labels in Africa.
Queen
Nworisara-Quinn was instrumental in the transformation of the label into a
holistic creative business. Mavin Global has expedited the international
careers of at least ten A-list stars through her input and endeavour..
Seasoned entertainment entrepreneur continues to set the standard for music publishing, licensing, and promotion here in Africa.
British-born
Nigerian Rebecca Junaid navigates the artiste management space better than any
other. She has survived gender discrimination, client clashes and varying forms
of prejudice to establish herself on her perch as a music mogul and constant to
guaranteed success.
Rebecca
has on her roster a formidable line-up of continental superstars, including
Yemi Alade, Tekno, Adekunle Gold, Teni, Selebobo, and DJ Spinall.
Apart
from offering services and consultancy in music business, she is also shown a
strong dedication and willingness to offer free thought leadership on music
show business to industry prospects.
Neo Soul star Simi is one of the best performing African artistes of 2021 chalking over 100 million streams across all credits. Her Duduke single was one of the biggest pop songs of the calendar, making her the most in-demand female act. She also emerged Top 5 for most-streamed female artistes in Africa across all DSPs.
Her
distinct vocal range, impeccable songwriting, and less-talked-about sound engineering
proficiency set Simi apart from any other female in the game.
The
Award-winning crooner keeps fives Headies’ in her cabinet- Best Record, Best
Collaboration, Best R&B single, Best Vocal Performance and Best Album-
testament to her rounded prowess and vocal dexterity. Apart from winning Best
Songwriter at the AFRIMA in 2016, her lyrics have also been studied as part of
College academic writing in Nigeria.
As a
sound engineer, she is also credited with mixing and mastering her husband
Adekunle Gold’s successful debut album which ushered the star to seven awards.
Both also won Best Act West Africa in their respective gender category at the
AFRIMMA last year, the first couple to ever do so in an international music
scheme.
And
yep, the singer also has a greater social media following than any West African
musician beyond her native Nigeria to show for her massive appeal.
Sinach is Gospel Africa's first truly global superstar. She has toured nearly every continent, playing to packed crowds and loud sing-alongs to all of her biggest hits. Several of her songs have been covered by some of the globe's icons and translated to many languages.
Her
songs consistently score platinum streaming traffic, making her the only Gospel
Artiste on the continent to make the Top 10 across all DSPs.
In
2021 she became the first Gospel artiste from Africa to be recognized by the US
Congress, a year after that unprecedented achievement of becoming the only
African to win the highest honour at the GMA Dove Awards- Gospel's equivalent
to the Grammys.
Sinach
dropped two separate albums last year- one live and one studio recorded, which
both went on to record Top 10 streaming numbers for an African Gospel album,
making full proof of her versatility, influence, and dominance in the terrain.
For
good measure, she is the first Gospel artiste on the continent to top the
Billboard Chart for Christian Songwriters. That’s why Sinach remains the
continent’s most influential contemporary Gospel act.
Stephanie Adamu is originally a Talent Management, Marketing Communications & PR expert. She served in an International Marketing capacity for Universal Music, before assuming her current role as the Marketing Manager for Africa and the Diaspora at Empire, the world’s foremost comprehensive digital media distribution company.
Stephanie
leverages her role to execute digital development initiatives in music and show
business for the hottest hits and most phenomenal prospects originating from
the region.
When
Stephanie Adamu woke up to a text from arguably Africa’s biggest female act a
few years ago, she knew it was a subtle clarion call to save African music. In
that text, Tiwa had called her a ‘blessing’ and ‘part of the history’ of a
career she ‘would have walked out’ on.
That’s
how Stephanie’s calling for African music, particularly Afrobeats, truly began.
It inspired her founding of the Stefi K Branding & PR Agency which has
proven pivotal in establishing Afrobeats as the world’s most trendy music genre
in terms of appeal.
Through
her endeavour, she has exploited digital opportunities to aggrandize African
music and create millions of dollars in value for musicians and events.
Temi Adeni is the Managing Director for Warner Music South Africa, and senior Vice President for Strategy, Sub-Saharan Africa. She is a trained lawyer, music business expert, and avid music enthusiast.
The
core of her business is centred on talent scouting, astutely valuing music
products and genres in the short and middle term, as well as liaising with
digital streaming platforms to protect the business needs of her company and
its clients.
Temi
has helped advance many unsung creators and genres originating from Africa, and
bring them to the heart of world music.
In 2021, Tems encroached the US charts with a Top 40 appearance on Billboard, following her collaborations with icons like Drake, Wizkid and Justin Bieber. Her collaboration with the latter reached the Top 10, and earned her a Grammy nomination.
Tems
is one of the biggest streaming female artistes today. Her numbers are so high
they could probably fill a phonebook.
Her
second EP released last year reached Top Ten on the Billboard World Albums
Chart. The award-winning rapper has also scored nominations in nearly every
major international awards scheme since her career debuted in 2018.
Theresa Ayoade has been at the heart of everything good about Ghana music in recent times. The country owes a huge chunk of music’s global success in the 21st century to her contributions to Ghanaian music over the past decade.
She
co-founded the Charterhouse organization, proprietors of the Ghana music
awards. The formation of the awards scheme twenty years ago was one of the
first schemes in entertainment to reward excellence annually. It resulted in a
huge paradigm shift in mentality, competition and ambition, and created the
foundations which heralded the successes of latter generations.
The
clear, construction and visionary ideas and leadership Theresa brought to bear
when she took over the mantle as CEO of Charterhouse have also cemented the
scheme as one of the biggest awards shows on the continent.
Tiwa Savage is arguably the queen of contemporary music in Africa. She was the first female this decade to get a BET nomination. Savage was twice nominated for Channel O and MTV European Music Awards. She won both once, becoming the first lady debuting within the last decade to achieve the feat.
The
early achievements of the 42-year old set such high benchmarks for women in
entertainment and consequently inspired the invasion of more ambitious women in
the space.
In
2019, Tiwa Savage departed the biggest record label in Nigeria when she signed
a record deal with Universal Music Group, the biggest music company in the
world. The singer reluctantly opted to leak a sex tape involving her to evade
extortion and blackmail.
Determined
to not make it the biggest story of her year, she released the smash hit Somebody’s Son which broke streaming numbers in
the year for a secular female act, cementing her perch as the leader of the
pack.
The seasoned music business executive is an expert in digital activation, music business marketing, and strategic planning.
She first worked as a campus radio host, exploiting her role to create opportunities in music for creative prospects.
Within
the digital music streaming sector, she first served as a Marketing Manager at
top digital streaming service, Spinlet, where she led the brokerage and
execution of partnership deals with renowned brands like Etisalat and Uber.
She
joined Boomplay in 2015, rising through the ranks to occupy her current
position as the Director of Artistes and Media Relations. In her current role,
she was instrumental to the growth of Boomplay, driving the monthly active
usage of the platform to over 60 million.
She
also orchestrated numerous groundbreaking partnerships with global brands like
Universal , Warner Music, Sony Music and the Billboard charts.
Vanessa Amadi-Ogbonna is an entertainment management and PR guru. She has not only nurtured the careers of some of the greatest African stars, but has also executed PR campaigns for several black American and European entertainers like Usher, Neyo, Ciara and the late great Whitney Houston.
Vannessa
orchestrated the international success of African music legend D’banj,
driving the marketing campaign which helped his song Oliver Twist to break through the UK Market and
encroach the Top 10 of the UK Charts, the highest an Afrobeats song has ever
peaked till date.
She
founded VA-PR Management, the music licensing, events, and
entertainment company that represents A-list stars like Davido and Tiwa Savage.
Yemi
Alade is one of the biggest artistes in Africa and pound-for-pound the most
outstanding African female in contemporary music and arts. She ticks all
the boxes for impact, dominance, awards, records, streaming credits,
popularity, presence, and advocacy.
Her
platinum-selling debut album featured the smash hit Johnny, which became Africa’s first video by a
contemporary female secular act to reach 100,000,000 views on YouTube. Her
Instagram following is also the highest for an African female.
She
breathes awards, earning at least 30 direct nominations at some of the biggest
local and international awards in just eight years.
She
received consecutive BET nominations in 2014 and 15, became the first person to
consecutively win the Best Female category at the MAMAs, and to be nominated for
the Best Artiste of the Year category, as well as to be nominated for the MTV
Europe Music Awards.
Yemi
Alade’s achievements and weight in African music are not in doubt. Listing them
all could make a printer run out of ink.
Couple
goals don’t come as big as Amadou and Mariam. This is the story of love, music
and dreams. It is the legend of a blind Malian couple who went on to impact the
world through music.
Mariam
was that unlucky child who ultimately found lasting love and fulfillment
through music. She lost her sight at five [5] but refused to give up her vision
and dreams.
The
visually impaired crooner first met her husband while both performed at Mali’s
institute for the Young Blind. That was the beginning of a surreal journey into
global prominence and durable love.
Mariam
and her husband have since toured the world, headlined many of its biggest
festivals, performed at the Nobel Peace Prize, composed the anthem for the 2006
FIFA World Cup, performed at the 2010 edition’s opening ceremony, created the most
played French single of 2009, and earned several international recognitions.
The
platinum-selling musical couple also earned for themselves a Grammy nomination
for their classic studio album, Welcome to Mali.
Collaborating
on the classic, Mon Cheri, and headlining four
different festivals across the world made Mariam Doumbia the most consistent
musical wife in Africa, maintaining relevance and appeal for an unprecedented
40 year period with the same partner privately and professionally.
Kenya’s
Nadia Mukami has made herself impossible to ignore since truly coming of age in
2019. She scored ten major hits in three years, while being featured on another
three in the period. Her very impressive streaming numbers have established her
firmly at the forefront of African entertainment.
Subsequently,
she received her first nomination at the MTV Africa Music Awards in 2021,
having been involved on five hit songs that calendar. She has since dropped two
more international bangers in just the last three months. Phew.
Nandi
is one of the most gifted personalities on music television. She is a
successful singer, model, dancer, actress and television personality with a law
background.
At 14
years, she released her first studio album while signed to the world famous
Universal Music Group, before going on to host a teen entertainment show. She
also co-hosted the music reality series, Coke Studio, and
black entertainment television journal BET A-List before her 19th birthday.
The
beautiful entertainer starred alongside Beyoncé in the Grammy-nominated musical
film Black is King which garnered universal acclaim
following its release in 2020.
Mrs.
Madida played Nala, a key supporting act role in a film where illustrious names
like Naomi Campbell, Lupita Nyong’o, Kelly Rowland and Jay Z all guest-starred.
That same year, she won Best Collaboration at SAMA 26 for the smash hit Say You Will.
After
ten years in music, she announced in 2021 a long-overdue break from the space
to spend some more time with her two young children and cater to her husband.
Of course, she left a parting shot, having released new single Organic, a hot favorite on curated playlists for dance
music.
Zambian-born,
Botswana-raised, Australian-based rapper Sampa the Great is widely recognized
as one of the world’s finest female rappers today.
Despite
being in the game for only six years, she has already won a whopping nineteen
awards, debuted on the ARIA Albums Chart, and shared a stage with
world-acclaimed entertainers like Joey Bada$$, Thundercat and Kendrick Lamar.
The
rapper became the first artiste to win the biggest Australian music prize twice
in 2020, performing at the awards virtually through a video link to Botswana.
In her acceptance speech, she lambasted the ARIA Board for perceived
discrimination against ethnic minorities, having been overlooked for awards
consideration the previous year.
Africa
applauded the rapper in 2021, when despite being touted as “Australia’s own”,
she publicly announced her pride in her African roots which had been
fundamental to inspiring her music. She also went on to promote her new single
“Never forget” which strongly borrows from Zamrock for good measure.
25-year
old SeyiAwonuga, also called Shigh Lofe, is the founder and label manager of
BME. She is reputed as a starmaker due to her penchant for habitually finding
and successfully breeding stars. She has aided artistes like Naira Marley and
boyfriend, Zlatan Ibile to attain international recognition. Other high=profile
stars like Olamide, Fireboy DML, Peruzzi, and Mayorkun have also benefited from
her genius.
It is
the sound of awakening in Wiyaala’s songs, the purity of her vocals, and the
African spirit she exudes through her brand and personality that has etched her
as this generation’s gatekeeper for indigenous African music.
Wiyaala
has continued in the legendary footsteps of late greats like Miriam Makeba,
Brenda Fassie and Cesária Évora, selling that
revered African sound and generating chills globally at the world’s most
important music festivals, as that legendary generation once did in their
prime.
Hailing
from one of the most deprived regions of Ghana, Wiyaala has built an Arts and
Culture Centre there to help groom the next generation of native talents and facilitate
their own path to greatness.
Wiyaala
also works closely with UNICEF and her nation’s Gender, Children and Social
Protection Ministry, to advocate for social justice and the protection of women
and children’s rights.
She
has also received global acclaim for propagating black awakening, culture and
charity through her music.
Remember
Yolandi Visser from rap-rave group Die Antwoord? Uh-huh, the same one. Yolandi
Visser was the founder and female vocalist of the group that went on to break
all sorts of records for an African Music Video.
Three
[3] of the music videos created byThe Alternative Hip Hop duo are in the Top
five [5] for the most streamed African music videos on YouTube, with the
collective sum for all music videos reaching half a billion views. Their huge
streaming numbers caught the attention of Interscope Records. Die Antwoord’s
going on to perform at the Coachella Music Festival.
Yolandi
is respected across Africa for being the first female on a viral African Hip
Hop video [or variant]. Uhm…you can make those three viral Hip Hop videos.
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