DAKAR, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Music heavyweights gathered in Dakar, Senegal, on Sunday for the eighth edition of the All-Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), which aims to celebrate and promote the best veteran and avant-garde musicians from the continent.
World-renowned stars, including Senegalese maestro Youssou Ndour, and Nigerian artists P-Square and Tiwa Savage, are among those who will perform during the main award ceremony at the 15,000-seat Dakar stadium.
Gabonese singer and AFRIMA nominee Espoir La Tigresse was among the extravagantly dressed guests who posed on the red carpet ahead of the ceremony.
“I wear a mask on my head from my tribe in Gabon that represents a traditional dance from my people to show that I am proud of my culture and that I wanted to share it with the people here today,” she told Reuters, dressed in a black dress. and a headdress decorated with long straw fronds that hid most of her face.
The mass appeal of contemporary genres such as Afrobeats, where artists sing and rap over electronic backing tracks, has resulted in record sales and sold-out concerts for some African artists across the continent and also in the United States and parts of Europe in recent years. .
“This is such an exciting time in African music, and we are proud of the way these artists have been able to cross into various markets both locally and globally,” AFRIMA President Mike Dada said before the ceremony.
Companies are taking advantage of the growing global interest in African music. Last June, Universal Music Group (UMG.AS) launched a label for independent African labels and artists, while music streaming platforms including Spotify (SPOT.N) have sought to expand their offerings from African artists.
Reporting by Bate Felix and Ngouda Dione Writing by Alessandra Prentice Editing by Christina Fincher
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