Asa encounter with a taxi driver in France shows that Nigerian music is exploding

For all our excitement about the growth of Nigerian
music, we are still stuck to social media shout outs
and more.
And sometimes, it all seems unreal and distant that
our music, and the sounds that we produce within
Nigeria is exported, shared and enjoyed
organically by locals in other places.
The music as we create it, has great quality that
can be enjoyed regardless of culture and tradition,
and every day, new stories from ‘regular’ people
show that the music is enjoying a healthy
listenership outside traditional Nigerian and African
fans.
Asa’s story is a great example of this. The singer
lives in Paris, France, where she is signed to Naïve
Records. And a story she shared during her
performance at her ‘Asa Live In Lagos Encore’
concert is a great example of how much
penetration and distribution our music has
achieved.
According to Asa, she got into a taxi on a regular
day which had an Chinese driver. In Paris, it is
fairly normal for French speakers to confuse
Nigeria with Niger Republic. And all the time they
are corrected.
“So I get in the taxi and we begin to talk, and he
asked me where I’m from. I told him and he said
‘Do you know Davido?’
“I told him yes.”
The driver began to talk about how he listens to the
music and if Davido is from Niger. Asa cracked
jokes about the DMW boss and how he is too rich
to come from Niger. (She actually does have a
point).
What this shows is that the music have travelled to
a point where it is crossing boundaries finding new
markets, and organically generating fans in
France. France has historically shown Nigeria love.
Earlier in April 2017, singer Yemi Alade kicked off
“Mama Africa” tour in Paris, where she sold out
the Le Trianon venue.
“Things have changed.” Asa said at her concert.
“We’ve always been rich, we’ve always been
grown. But now doors are opening. People come
and eat here. They need us. They need our sound.”
What Asa says is true. In the past two years, we
have seen Nigeria become invaded by major labels
seeking to sign up our artists and do business with
the talents in the country. Sony Music
Entertainment has Wizkid and Davido on their
books. They are also distributing Ycee’s debut EP,
“First Wave”. Universal Music is also in Nigeria,
although their strategy is to sign unproven talents.
Nigerian music and its influence is growing
tremendously, and Asa’s experience is just a
result of it.

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