Tiwa Savage, arguably the hottest female artist in Nigeria if not Africa, turned 35 yesterday (Feb 5 2015)… In
addition to that, she is also going to be a mother soon. We reflect on her journey and the impact of her involvement in the Nigerian Music Industry.
addition to that, she is also going to be a mother soon. We reflect on her journey and the impact of her involvement in the Nigerian Music Industry.
Thinking back to 2009, I don’t recall that there were any women really making heads turn (visually & sonically) and making impact at the same time in the Mohits and 9icedominated Nigerian music Industry. Let me explain before you crucify me; it is one thing to catch the ear of millions of Nigerians where they appreciate your voice, music or style… it is another thing to cause these people who just borrowed you their attention for a few minutes to literally turn the rest of their body to face you and start to PAY you attention.
When Mo’hits came into the music industry, we listened and gradually were always alert or looking out for any new material from the entire camp… same thing with 9ice after he dropped the Gongo Aso single, we gave him all our ears when his sophomore album dropped which means 9ice and Mo’hits made impact across the entire nation.
The interesting thing is that for whatever reason, it seemed normal that no woman was captivating the ears and hearts of millions in the Nigerian Music space. I understand that there may have been a mental ROADBLOCK at the time and it was probably no one’s fault, it may have been a combination of different things that made this happen and even worse made it look normal… at least it had not happened since the days of high profile female artists such as Onyeka Owenu.
In 2010 when Tiwa Savage arrived the Nigerian Music scene after committing to become a recording artist in Nigeria, which was seemed like a bad move to many who had followed her career until that moment, because she had a writing gig with Sony ATV via her publishing deal and some of her written songs were making it on actual albums (FantasiaCollard Greens and Cornbread, Monica Catch Me ). In the states when your written song makes it on an album, the label pays you a flat fee usually about $10,000 and based on your points (percentage), you get a royalty/publishing checks every quarter on any moneys the song makes. In addition, you could even get a large advance if your songs continue to get placed on albums sometimes up to or over $1 million.
So, there was uncertainty about going to Nigeria to start from scratch as a recording artist… at this point only a few people knew Tiwa Savage, she was new “to” and “on” the scene. Luckily for Tiwa she brought her writing skills, (she wrote lyrics, created melodies, performed the written song and sent to the artist) with her and her voice which she displayed 4 years prior in the UK during the 2006 X Factor boot camp. At this point, the most any Nigerian knew about her singing abilities were through one or two songs that she released on notjustok which were enjoyable but in no way exceptional… As far as most were concerned, Tiwa was just another female who was coming to try her luck in the male dominated music industry; she was not a threat.
Before relocating to Nigeria she formed her record label with then partner and now husband, Tunji Balogun aka TeeBillz who TRULY had her back. The next move they made was to form a business relationship with Cecil Hammond’s (Rhythm Unplugged) Flytime management company which was a very smart and strategic play at the time.
On August 5 2010, 323 Entertainmentofficially released Tiwa Savage’s first official single, Kele Kele Love; a catchy uptempo track that would go on to work perfect on the radio and clubs. It was an intentional commercial record, created on purpose to spread virally across the nation and it did that and more, but not until after the video actually dropped exactly 90 days later on November 5 2010.
Even while Kele Kele Love continued to garner much deserved success, Tiwa released her 2nd official single Love Me 3x which was equally as catchy as Kele Kele Love in 2011. All along she had simply turned heads, but when the visuals to Love Me 3x dropped; Tiwa Savage officially made impact and every time she released a single after that, we all checked for it,. When Tiwa Savage featured on a song it made the song bigger, if she made a cameo appearance in any video, she added more value to it.
In my opinion, Tiwa’s success has nothing to do with luck, here is what happened… the foundation of her success started because she was confident and embraced everything that came with her strengths.
First of all, she did not have a hard time creating Kele Kele Love because she had been honing her song writing skills for years and she knew how to write a good song. She may have also studied the style of music that was being released during that period in Nigeria. She not only wrote a good song, she wrote a HIT song and went ahead to do it a 2nd time with Love Me 3x. You will also notice that she was not trying too hard; she added the right dose of everything, mixed it perfectly and 2 hits were produced.
When the visuals dropped the first thing we noticed… actually before the videos and singles dropped we noticed that Tiwa Savage was a young, attractive and confidentwoman. After the videos dropped we realized that she was confident/comfortable in her beauty, unapologetic for her sexy and her style/swag was authentic and not a gimmick… It’s as if before Tiwa came in the game all the female artists focused on, was their talent and choreography, but for whatever reason they never attempted to accentuate their naturally given beauty or sex appeal… Tiwa took advantage of it and attracted MANY Male and Female fans. Men fantasized and women admired her.
Yes in Nigeria, society frowns upon women showing too much skin, Tiwa’s was different. She did introduce more skin than the Nigerian audience was accustomed to in Love Me 3x, but we got used to it mostly because we saw real substance in her music.
Tiwa simply was a talented young woman who knew that she was attractive and was publicly confident about that fact. She was not ashamed and did not allow idle criticism silence her singing voice and deprive her from displaying her attractiveness publicly’ it was part of her OWN entertainment… she could do this because she knew that she could back it up with REAL talent. She embraced everything that came with being an attractive, popular female artist and every time she responded to any question publicly she did it with poise. In addition, she had an inspirational story to sell which attracted real people to her, not just as an entertainer but as a person. Tiwa and her team had everything covered.
We all know the rest of the Tiwa Savage story; she released Ife Wa Gbona, partnered with newly formed Mavin Records in 2012 and eventually released another overwhelming single titled Eminado featuring Don Jazzy on the same day her debut album hit the market.
After Tiwa’s obvious success with her first 2 singles, we began to see more women confidently step into the Nigerian Music space doing contemporary music and expressing themselves freely. The ladies that were in the music industry before Tiwa came in the game, became bigger not per chance but because they believed more in their craft and what they had to offer. Tiwa proved that a woman could be as relevant as a male counterpart in the Nigerian music industry. She said to herself “Yes I can” and other females started repeating those same words to themselves and believing it… She gave all women in the music industry hope and inspiration by breaking the barriers in the minds of the stake holders in the music industry and especially the Nigerian music fans.
Tiwa was the Barack Obama for women in the Nigerian music industry. Her existence and success allowed and continues to allow other women display their talent and other strengths unashamedly. Now that she is married and getting ready to be a mother, we are sure that she will continue to write her story of success and break more barriers in the Nigerian Music Industry.
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