2024 was an interesting year for the Nigerian music industry. In fact, it’s been one of our most controversial years so far. We didn’t do so well with singles, and we had one of the best years in terms of albums. Our superstars didn’t quite impress as a group on the international scene, but we had a few moments, and a lot of nominations. The most important discussion in the music space however was that we struggled in the aspect of providing the next set of superstars of the genre. As a music industry, we found it hard to break out future gems and introduce them to the mainstream.
Every year, we have artists break out and enter the mainstream, showing signs of stardom and relevance. In the past five years, we’ve produced acts like Rema, Victony, Bnxn, Omah Lay, Fireboy DML, Ayra Starr, Tems, Oxlade, Qing Madi, Lojay, and more. These artists have gone on to hold the forte on a global level and have done well to be ambassadors of Afrobeats and Nigerian music. 2024 was a struggle however, as the only two acts that can lay claim to having a breakout year are Ayo Maff and Llona, and their national relevance is still very much arguable.
The question in the space has been simple. Why aren’t we churning out superstars like we used to? Why is there a disconnect from the top level and the underground scene? What could be done to solve these issues, as the most important people in an industry are the artists. Who’s going to take over from the current set, and how long are we going to refer to Rema’s set as the Next Gen?
Taking initiative, Chocolate City A&R and pop culture aficionado Osagie Onobun popularly known as 10Ten put together a solution to this problem. He started a movement called The A&R Tour and took to the road with the intention of finding and developing the next set of superstars. Usually, we have artists touring a set geographic, hitting the road with music on a mission to sell the music and make more money and fans. 10Ten decided to use the same idea to find talent.
The A&R Tour is an initiative powered by Chocolate City designed to be a medium for the next generation to be discovered. The tour involved other A&Rs from different music companies like The Kevin Asaju, Omolawyer, Tochi, Trik, and Chocolate City superstar Blaqbonez. Together, they went to places and schools like Unilag, OAU, Funaab, Enugu and London discovering and platforming talent.
The tour which kicked off in Unilag went on from July to December, and a lot of talent was discovered in the process. Acts like Wavestar, PsamuelBond, Cozy, Jazmn, Boy Reck, Aguero Banks, Gaffar, ArnoldTheTm and more were discovered through this medium.
The tour was graced by some important figures in the industry. The EVP of Chocolate City Aibee Adeoye was present at the Unilag leg of the tour to scout for talents. Writer and A&R Joey Akan graced the Enugu leg of the tour and spoke to acts while Blaqbonez was present at OAU to support artists from the school he graduated from. The London leg of the tour was held at Slawn’s club BeauBeau’s.
The A&RTour is set to end with a project involving artists found on the tour and superstars in the industry. The project titled 1823 is scheduled to drop next year, and is going to be a collaborative effort of the best superstars in the country and the talent found on the tour.
While the industry slowly builds itself, it’s important to set up systems and processes for structure. There’s a lack of proper mechanism for artists to get found and possibly get signed to labels and be discovered by the mainstream. The A&R tour aims to solve that and bridge the gap between the top level and the underground scene, and did a commendable job of that this year.
One of the high points of the music space in 2024, the A&R tour did well for the music space in platforming the next generation. It’s interesting to see these systems put in place for the development of the genre, and we look forward to 1823.
