All Set for Legends of BlackMusic Awards

Come December 1, BlackMusic Initiative, a movement which was started 15 years ago to create a cultural and social change in Africa as a whole, will be rewarding key players and major achievers in the Nigerian music space.

According to its convener, Ms Fehintoluwa Odejide, the BlackMusic Initiative (BMI) became necessary to meet the need of the foreign market, especially the European music market, which expects so much more than we are presently offering. Odejide, who boasts of 27 years’ experience in the Nigerian music space, said that the country’s representation on the global stage is small because our focus is misguided.

According to her, the youths whose major escape is music don’t have enviable role models, and also do not have adequate knowledge of history and culture where there is no repertoire. “Unofficially, I started my journey 27 years ago as a mere choir girl before forging to tertiary institutions where I studied Music Tech at The Polytechnic, Ibadan and Music Arts at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).

My passion goes beyond the classroom. The media then were all about trivialities in music rather than quality sounds and that era swept futuristic music away. I am optimistic that we can take our rightful position in global music market than we are doing,” she said.

Also speaking, BMI’s Project Consultant, Omobolanle Adebayo stated that as part of the initiative’s contribution to youth development, it has an ongoing project, the Youth Against Drug Initiative ( YADI), which holds in conjunction with established institutions for proper monitoring and effectiveness.

According to her, the project focuses not only on drug users and addicts, but also on young adults who wish to make a difference.

“In today’s world, the youths are faced with challenges ranging from hardships to the feeling of not belonging in the society. These youths constitute a large chunk of the population yet remain the most subjugated and marginalised.

“As a result, we seek to bring them together under one umbrella and provide some sort of mentorship for them,” she added.

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Odejide