Music  

Excitement As One Africa Music Fest Hits London Today

By Chuks Nwanne

24 August 2019   |   3:29 am

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on Telegram

The SSE Wembley Arena in London will come alive today as leading African music stars will storm the venue for One Africa Music Fest UK with Wyclef Jean as the headliner. The London show is a follow up to the multiple sold-out shows at New York’s Barclays Centre (19,000 capacity) and Houston’s Toyota Center (18,000 capacity) earlier this month.

Tiwa Savage

The SSE Wembley Arena in London will come alive today as leading African music stars will storm the venue for One Africa Music Fest UK with Wyclef Jean as the headliner. The London show is a follow up to the multiple sold-out shows at New York’s Barclays Centre (19,000 capacity) and Houston’s Toyota Center (18,000 capacity) earlier this month.

Conceived as a platform for the exhibition of African music to the rest of the world, One Africa Music Fest has rapidly become the seminal platform to showcase African music and culture to mainstream and diaspora audiences across the world, while creating a networking opportunity for African music stars.

With a focus to promote African music, create awareness, stimulate demand, develop audiences and promote sustainability for African music globally, the lineup for the London show include headliner Wyclef, Burna Boy, Stefflon Don, 2Face, Tekno, Harmonize, Snekbo, B Young and Kojo Funds. Others include Teni, Tiwa Savage, Diamond Platnumz, Jah Prayzah, Zlatan and other leading Africa acts, who will join the groove today.

One Africa Music Fest the UK has always featured best line-ups of Africa’s most renowned artistes such as Roc Nation’s Tiwa Savage, Nigeria’s biggest pop duo P-Square, Sony Music’s Davido and fellow label mate Tekno, Tanzanian superstar Alikiba and pan-African stars Awilo Longomba and Cassper Nyovest.

Haitian born rapper, actor, producer, and musician Wyclef Jean has given music fans countless hits and classic jams to listen and love for years to come. Formerly a member of one of the most iconic hip-hop group The Fugees, Wyclef has also been nominated over ten times for a Grammy Awards and won 3 times for his amazing work. Some of his classics include Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira Featuring Wyclef Jean, Maria Maria by Carlos Santana, Killing Me Softly by The Fugees, Gone till November, Two Wrongs Featuring Claudette Ortiz, 911 Featuring Mary J. Blige and others.

Just recently, One Africa Music Fest announced its first-ever headline sponsorship with Africa’s leading integrated digital payments and commerce platform, Interswitch, highlighting a shared commitment of taking the best of Africa to the world.

The multi-faceted partnership between the two organisations, who was solidified on Wednesday, February 13, created an opportunity for both brands to come together to engage customers through entertainment and lifestyle, making it the most prestigious platform in showcasing Africa’s best and brightest talents with the sole aim of solidifying Africa’s position within the entertainment industry on a global level.

Speaking on Interswitch’s partnership with One Africa Global, Mitchell Elegbe, Group CEO of Interswitch said, “Africa is a youthful population and we are extremely proud of the renaissance that has been witnessed, notably in the entertainment sector, particularly with our music, which has boomed and garnered global acclaim in recent years on the strength of sheer resilience and a spirit of enterprise. This is mirrored by the growing influence of the One Africa Music platform, and as an integrated payment brand focused on enabling commerce and wealth-creation in African markets, we remain relentless in our quest to actively engage and reward our consumers across the continent, leveraging platforms that best resonate with their identified passion-points, such as the One Africa Music Fest.”

Commenting on the development, Paul O, CEO, One Africa Global/One Africa Music Fest, said, “It’s been my life’s mission to showcase Africa to the World, I am excited and equally proud to announce this partnership! As two proudly African brands united by a common vision to showcase the very best of what Africa has got to offer, we are on a journey to take Africa to the world and I am happy it is with Interswitch and its flagship consumer brand, Quickteller”

African music has been influencing Western music for generations. Now, new waves of musicians are becoming huge stars in their own countries, partly due to the growth of music streaming services. And they’re determined to show the rest of the world diversity of sound that in the past has been lumped together as simply world music.