[VIEWPOINT]:YOUR TALENT,NOT YOUR POCKET

 

After seeing the same trick over and over again, we stop falling for it. And that's why upcoming artists need to stop paying artists millions to feature on their songs. It's just not working anymore.

We've seen many unknown artists feature a Timaya, Terry G, Davido or whoever in order to help their records do well. It's a great gimmick that's used all over the world, and it helps to get people to pay attention to an artist who is trying to make a name for himself/herself.

Unfortunately, the fans have come to understand that the big artists are not getting on those tracks because they believe in the undiscovered artist (that's what it should be). More often they are jumping on the track simply because they have been paid good money for a feature. So it's not an honest endorsement by the bigger artist.

A higher level of this practice is when established Nigerian artists pay American artists to feature on their tracks, so they can get that  international appeal or status, bragging rights or whatever you want to call it. It was becoming a trend, until Drake and R.Kelly came and embarrassed a lot of Nigerian artists.

What R.Kelly and Drake did with Wizkid was remind people that a high profile feature wasn't supposed to be inspired by a paycheck, but by a belief in a song or an artist. Drake heard Ojuelegba and  jumped on it because he loved it. And then came the biggest endorsement of an artist; R.Kelly featured Wizkid on his own album. This wasn't Wizkid featuring him. We all know artists are courting and paying international acts these days for a feature, but that was not the case for the Drake/Wiz, R.Kelly/Wiz collaborations.

 To the Naija artists who have been trying to hasten their rise to international status, good luck. Good luck trying to pay an R.Kelly to feature you on his own album. Or paying an international rapper to sign you to his label...hold on...I heard that has been done before. I was not privy to the Dbanj/Kanye deal but there were rumors of Dbanj having a contract that made him the equivalent of an adopted child who was paying his own school fees and buying his own meals, just so he can bear the family name. Yuck.

Branding is everything in business, but music is still an art form. Hopefully we will see more features that are inspired by creativity, and not driven by money. A certain artist pointed out to me that he felt honored that he was featured on a Timaya song, as opposed to having Timaya feature on his own song. Working with a big shot should be a compliment to your talent, not your pocket. To quote Kanye West, "Don't rush to get grown." 

Culled from Howfana

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[VIEWPOINT]:YOUR TALENT,NOT YOUR POCKET

4/ 5

Oleh DJ MW (MasculeeWhite)

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