With Bez, Nigerian music louder on BET

JAYNE AUGOYE writes that emerging musical act, Bez Idakula, boosts the profile of Nigerian music with the launch of his video on American TV channel, BET

When a video by Nigerian soul-jazz artiste, Bez Idakalu, That Stupid Song was shown on BET?s 106&Park on Tuesday, the soft spoken singer made history as the first African to ?world-premiere? a video on the American music programme.

The track features X3M music records artiste, Praiz, and is off Bez?s debut album ? Super Sun ? dropped last year. Produced by the celebrated producer, Cobhams Asuquo, the track takes the viewer down memory lane with nostalgic nursery rhymes with which many are familiar.

The video, directed by Clarence Peters, is quite striking as the monochrome montage (Black and White pictures) brings to memory popular American motown videos and has all the promise of a world class product.

Seconds after it was aired, the artiste instantly became a trending topic on Twitter. This feat achieved by the Nassarawa State-born rising star brings to the fore the tremendous growth the Nigerian music industry ? especially its videos ? has recorded over the years. With the industry fast expanding, Nigerian artistes are breaking boundaries /divides by teaming up with international music stars.

In the past, there have been claims of collaborations ? like Eedris Abdulkareem?s purported collaboration with Busta Rhymes and Rita Marley; Psquare?s failed attempt at securing a duet with Busta Rhymes; Twin-X?s recording with Lil? Wayne; and Freestyle?s T-Pain collaboration hoax. As a result, Nigerian fans are skeptical whenever an artiste announces an international collaboration.

But these doubts were doused in February last year when Dbanj released his much anticipated video, Mr Endowed Remix, featuring American super star, Snoop Dogg. The video was proudly directed by an indigenous director, Sesan Ogunro.

But beyond the fa?ade, many others have gotten international recognition. In February last year, alternative singer, Nneka , became the first Nigerian to perform on an American talk show, ?The Late Show with David Letterman.? In the same month, Tuface Idibia was interviewed and later performed on another American TV talk show, ?the Monique Show.? Also in 2011, Dbanj featured on a BET interview titled ?Welcome to America,? where he talked about his rise to fame.

Popular Nigerian female rappers were also given an opportunity to shine on the international scene, when a bunch of them were featured on BET Cypher, a Hip Hop battle, among top rappers around the world.

Modenine, X.O Senavoe, Ice Prince, M.I, Sauce Kid and Naeto C represented the male rappers while Eva, Sasha, Zee, Blaise and Muna stood in for the ladies. The video was aired at the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2011 on its international (Africa and Europe) category.

Several international music channels are tapping into the popularity and appeal of Nigerian music videos. They have also come up with platforms dedicated to transmitting solely Nigerian music videos. One of such is the French music television channel, Trace, which was officially launched in the country in September 2011.

So far, virtually every top and fast-rising artiste has had his/her videos shown on the station. Top on the list are the likes of Naeto C, PSquare, Tuface, Flavour Nabia and Mo Hits. Not surprising also, Nigerian music videos make up over 70 per cent of all songs shown on MTV base and Channel O and TRACE. For every five videos played, three of them are by Nigerian artistes.

While this is a welcome development, a major setback for young up-and- coming musicians is the financial implications of shooting good music video. This has become an issue, because these international music channels set benchmarks for any artiste looking to have his or her video on their platforms.

But the cost notwithstanding, some still make do with the limited resources available to get onto the platforms and then turn to other channels like Youtube, which has become the number one destination for music. Of course, other Sites like Museke.com BellaNaija, Sturvs, NaijaPals, Truspot, Afriville have also served as a launch pad for budding artistes.

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Source: http://www.punchng.com/entertainment/arts-life/with-bez-nigerian-music-louder-on-bet/

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