Thread by @DavidHundeyin

I'm not sure where this narrative that "Nigeria does not promote other African music" is suddenly coming from, because I know FOR A FACT that this is NOT true.

A little thread with some facts and some anecdotes that I hope will provide some insight to cut through this myth.

https://twitter.com/stonebwoy/status/1476662540880990209

I used to work for BHM, which was Viacom Africa's PR agency, so I had an inside view of much of Africa's contemporary industry.

This guy - the person who pitched MTV Base Africa to his bosses at Viacom USA, and built it from the ground up was Alex Okosi - a Nigerian.

If you're not aware about who Alex is and the central, foundational role he played in the post-2000 growth and development of contemporary African music, I recommend reading this:
edition.cnn.com/2012/09/28/sho…

Throughout my time working on the Viacom account at BHM, it was always stated very clearly and unambiguously that despite its core presence in Nigeria, MTV Base Africa existed to promote AFRICAN music and urban culture, as against Nigerian.

It was quite literally all we ever did

This was just random media event on Victoria Island sometime in 2014 or 2015, and the star attraction present on the day was Cynthia Morgan.

Yet the decision makers (all Nigerians) flew in a couple of promising artists from Ghana and (I think) Kenya, just to promote them.

And it wasn't just Viacom either. The entire industry was about "achieve new things and open doors for the rest of Africa."

This was the Beat FM Xmas concert in 2015 which had @Skepta, @KreptandKonan and Stormzy. The (Nigerian) organisers gave Victoria Kimani (Kenyan) the stage

And it went much further than just promoting African artists and giving them media airtime.

I recommend reading up about key industry players whom you may not be aware of like @ayenithegreat, who was probably Nigeria's first contemporary music PR practitioner. Read up on him.

It is utterly incredible to see African industry practitioners like Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale making this incredulous claim that the Nigerian music industry excludes other Africans.

Do you people even KNOW anything about the industry you operate in and how it came to be?

How can you make this claim about NIGERIANS of all people?? I mean if you wanted to accuse an African music industry of being exclusionary, that should obviously be South Africa (which successfully fought to get its own MTV channel separate from the rest of the continent in 2013)

The ONE industry on the continent that you absolutely under any circumstances cannot level this accusation at, is Nigeria.

You guys needs to gain knowledge about your industry first, then apologise to the Nigerian men and women whose work you are insulting with this accusation.

P.S: I miss working with Viacom. Being surrounded by characters like @SpecialSlim was a guaranteed pick-me-up anyday🥲