Gentle Men,The Ladies Are Here!!

It’s a man’s world no doubt but it doesn’t mean the ladies can’t have some fun too. The Nigerian music industry is predominantly dominated by men. There is too much testosterone in the system but some ladies are bringing in the glamour and feminine touch to the party monopolized by men. Move over gentlemen- the ladies are in the building.

We have just entered the sixth month of the year and we already have two albums from female singers- Omawumi and Waje and these albums are not feather weight LPs. Omawumi’s sophomore album (Lasso of Truth) and Waje’s highly anticipated album (W.A.J.E) are the best albums to have been released this year so far plus Banky W’s ‘R&BW’. By the time June is over, the first lady of Mavin Records‘ Tiwa Savage would have dropped her ‘Once Upon A Time’ album. 3 major albums from women in one year alone- that is a feat for our industry. Women in the music industry should be celebrating. I cannot recall the last time two women dropped highly anticipated albums in a year let alone 3. With acts such as Niyola, Yemi Alade, Emma Nyra, Lola Rae and Seyi Shay impressing fans and critics so far, it seems that 2014 will also favour the ladies. While our ladies here haven’t started pulling major numbers like their male counterparts, the tide is slowly turning to their favour.

Last month, Omawumi and Waje were unveiled as GLO ambassadors. Omawumi especially, had a good month as Konga also nabbed her to be their ambassador. Sasha had a deal with Samsung last year. Tiwa Savage was the co-host on Nigerian Idols. Before now, endorsements were the exclusive privilege of the guys. Not only are women producing more music, they are beginning to cash out. Every record label either has a first lady or is looking for one. If this demand is anything to go by, the number of ‘active’ female singers and entertainers would have increased by a whole lot in the coming years.

While the present looks good and the future looks encouraging, the impact of female acts in the Nigerian music industry is still a far cry from what happens abroad. In America the likes of Beyonce and Lady Gaga dominate the charts while Adele based in the UK has the best selling album 21 in the past two years. Taylor’s Swift last album RED sold over a million copies in its first week of release. Lauryn Hill took home 5 Grammys in 2000. Let’s not even talk about what Rihanna has achieved in the last 7 years of her career.

Just like in our society, a lot of women are relegated to the background in music. The video vixen industry (which is growing by the day) accommodates more women than the music business. The underlying notion here is that women are good enough to dance on TV screens but not good enough to be artistes. Also there is this belief that female artistes are high maintenance. A lot of record label owners and management company bosses say that they would rather sign men because they are easier to deal with. That’s not entirely true as some men in this business have more drama than an Italian diva. Music business is all about management and if you cannot manage a singer or a rapper properly then you are not cut for the business. The truth is a lot of people in this business don’t know how to manage. What they know about the music game is produce funds for music videos and ‘promotion’. Pardon me if I am wrong but it should be easier to sell a woman than a man. So what’s the problem?

The music scene in Nigeria is growing yearly with more and more corporate bodies pumping more money into it. As this growth is highly welcomed, we should create more space for women to do their thing. We need more Mariah Careys, Whitney Houstons and Toni Braxtons in our industry. It might be a man’s world but the ladies are running it. It is time for us more Nigerian female artistes to start running things.