Last weekend, on friday, 8 march was celebrated as international women's day. It is celebrated on march 8 every year. But obviously as you all expect I won't delve into that in totality. This is a music blog hence I'll look at this subject from a music angle. So, my focus today is on examining how female artists have fared in the industry, being particular about the Naija scene.
As with almost every profession, men dominate. But not so fast, there's a little difference here especially when you look at the American Music Industry, particularly from the 60s and especially from the 80s. In the 80s, along with the guys, Madonna ruled at the top and so did Janet Jackson and they did this into the 90s. In the 90s, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Shania Twain reigned supreme and so did Britney Spears who ruled into the 00s and so did Destiny Child. In the 00s, Beyonce ruled at the very top and so did Rhianna,Taylor Swift, Katie Perry, Adele and Lady Gaga into the 10s and also did Nicki Minaj rule in the 10s in an almost totally male dominated genre. And there are also other female acts who were not mediocre at all; acts like Toni Braxton, Mary j Blige, Dolly Parton, Tina Turner and so on. But I know you might want to say that some of these ladies were backed heavily by male talents like writers and producers. Yeah, I know, but it's a good thing you said 'some' because artists like Dolly Parton, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Katie Perry, Adele, Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga were terrific writers and Mariah Carey, Beyonce, and Taylor Swift also produced. So you see, although men have not been out-performed, the ladies have been extraordinary also.
But all this is in the American Music Industry. What about the Nigerian scene? How has it been like? Is it similar to the case above? Not at all. It's a far cry. Though there are artists like Tiwa Savage and Simi who are impressive, and also Omawumi, Evy Edna, and Esse Agesse back in the day, none has ever ruled at the top like their male counterparts! Imagine that! None!. None, except Onyeka Onwenu. But a lot of people don't know this because our industry is not yet mature enough to profile acts from the past and celebrate our music history.
Onyeka ruled at the top with the guys all through the 80s, dropping hits after hits. Hits like Ekwe, Alleluya, Dancing in the sun, Bianulu, Peace song, Iyogogo, One love and so on. As I said, we are not yet mature to give the respect due our legends so this generation don't really know our legends and even those that know don't know how much they are worth. For example, I read an article on
daily post where Aramide was saying that she has lost respect for Onyeka Onwenu becausse she felt disrespected the way Onyeka treated her when she wanted pictures with her after a show Aramide had opened for Onyeka. Aramide was new on the scene back then. But the thing is that stuffs like that happen a lot in the US. It's no biggie. And I'll give you an instance. In 2001, Eve was already an established artist. In fact, she was in her prime when Michael Jackson enlisted her for a remix of his song 'Butterflies'. Eve said she didn't even see or talk with him through out the process even though she was going to the studio Michael's team had arranged. She took it with a pinch of salt saying that it's okay as long as she's getting paid. So you see. We need to grow up.
Now in subsequent posts, I'd like to state what the problems are and proffer solutions; as you know, that's one of the purpose of this blog.
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