Does Wizkid need the BET? Does a man who has almost achieved everything there is in African music, and also won the BET once in the past 5 years need the BET?
Over
the weekend, Wizkid’s name popped up in several circles after many
adjudged that he had been wronged by the organisers of the 2016 BET
Awards. The reason for these conversations is that the much coveted Best
International Act: Africa award was given to South African DJ and
producer, Black Coffee, who majors in electronic music.
The main argument here is that Wizkid has literally
done more for himself, and the African continent than Black Coffee has.
The singer is leading the new African exposure of Afrobeat and our
different subgenres to the world, via his collaborations, and that has
given the world an unprecedented hard-on for our music.
Black
Coffee on his part, has not done badly for himself. A South African
multi-award winning record producer and DJ. He began his career around
the year 1995 and has released five albums and a live DVD under his
Johannesburg-based record label, Soulistic Music. He is
arguably the most prominent electronic music producer in Africa. He had
his big break shortly after being chosen as a participant in the 2004
Red Bull Music Academy held in Cape Town. On the September 29, 2015, he
won the "Breakthrough DJ Of The Year" award at the DJ Awards in Ibiza, a
few weeks after the release of his fifth studio album, “Pieces Of Me.” This year also, he has performed at at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Ultra Music Festival.
As fans and followers of African music, this
conversation is crucial, helping to give feedback to a body that owns a
platform to judge the performance of our artistes. We feel the yardstick
for this judgement, which eventually births a winner did not give us a
good winner. In fact, for the past two years, it has malfunctioned,
giving African music Stonebwoy from Ghana, and Black Coffee. The great
names which are almost always involved in non-BET winners list such as
Yemi Alade, Diamond Platnumz, Sauti Sol, haven’t gotten their due.
That’s why fans are livid. That’s why they talk!
But
why have this conversation? Does Wizkid need the BET Awards right now?
Will it add extra sheen to a career that has been glittering since he
left ‘Modogg Studio’?
Wizkid does not need the BET Awards in a survivalist
sense. It isn’t crucial to the success of his career, neither does it
influence his vital numbers on social media, record sales, lump sum
payments, royalties, fees, others. The award has no bearing on them.
What the BET means for Wizkid is that it simply adds another gong in his
collection, and would make for great stories to share with his progeny.
It would also form a good part of his recollection, when his time is
done at the top, and he takes a bow from music.
Other
than that, and he doesn’t ‘really’ need it. Wizkid is working on
releasing his third studio album, and work is in overdrive for the
project to drop this year. That’s where the focus is right now. BET
awards are cool, but personal honors driven by planning, strategic work,
and ruthless execution are still the way to go for him.
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