20 years ago if you wanted to be known as an international artist from Africa, you had to move overseas in order to reach that market. A record label would sign you and you would have to migrate closer to the label in order for you to record music and tour.
Nowadays with the help of the internet, the world feels like it is that much smaller and easier to connect with people on other continents. We’re starting to see major labels migrating to Africa to create an African subsidiary making it easier to sign artists from Africa.
This is due to the fact that Africa has the largest number of young people in the world, 60% of the population is under the age of 25 years. What this means is that for at least the next 10 years, you have a connected audience that can grow with the music.
Universal Music Group launches Def Jam Africa
Def Jam is widely known for launching the careers of so many Hip Hop and R&B acts in our lifetime such as; Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mary J Blige, LL Cool J, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and many more. The label’s deep history with being entrenched within urban culture is unparalleled to say the least.
In May of 2020 it was announced that Def Jam Africa would be launched, with the sole purpose of signing upcoming talent from Africa and getting their music to the rest of the world. With their head offices based in South Africa and Nigeria, their aim is to gradually expand into other countries and regions in Africa.
Currently Def Jam Africa has signed some of Africa’s most influential artists like Nasty C (South Africa), Cassper Nyovest (South Africa), Lady Gaaga (Nigeria), Boity (South Africa), Nadia Nakai (South Africa), Vector (Nigeria) and Tshego (South Africa) just to name a few.
The beauty of this is that it is mostly in partnership with Def Jam Africa. What that means is that a lot of these artists simply have publishing and distribution deals whereas they are either independent or signed to a different label when it comes to the music.
DefJamAfrica x Familytree partnership officially launched. Let's work 😤 pic.twitter.com/qT8qCW9uNn
— Don Billiato (@casspernyovest) May 26, 2020
West African influence
Without a doubt some of the artists who’ve been making the most noise from Africa are the likes of Davido, Burna Boy and Wizkid, putting a spotlight on the West African sounds of Afrobeat/Afropop. This region has been so dominant with regards to representing Africa, stemming back from the likes of Fela Kuti all the way to D’banj. Over the years their impact has been so monumental, it was only a matter of time until the international labels recognised this.
Davido signed a global deal with Sony Music in 2016; Wizkid signed a multi-album deal with Sony Music in 2017, Burna Boy signed to Atlantic records in the U.S and Warner Music internationally also in 2017. In addition, Nigerian songstress, Tiwa Savage signed to Universal Music Group in 2019 while her publishing & management deal is with Roc Nation.
All of these changes have happened within the last 6 years which shows how much of a market there is for African music. It’s really no surprise especially when you look at how much the West African artists have dominated the Best International Act at the BET awards. In fact look at who has won the award over the past 10 years: 2Baba (2011), Sarkodie (2012), Ice Prince (2013), Davido (2014), Stonebwoy (2015), Black Coffee (2016), Wizkid (2017), Davido (2018), Burna Boy (2019) and Burna Boy (2020).
Elaine signs to Columbia Records
We’ve also come to realise that there are a lot of diamonds in Africa being uncovered. In 2020, South African singer Elaine, became the first female independent artist to climb to the number #1 spot on Apple Music for the sub-Saharan region. Her debut EP Elements, got the attention of many people and now she is signed to Columbia Records/Sony Music, the same label as Adele and Beyoncé.
Other major labels such as Warner Music Group as well as Sony Music have also established a base in Africa with the intention of getting more African music to the world.
