Popular talent manager Asa Asika has said that Afrobeats would have achieved even greater global success if Nigerian artists collaborated more. He recently revealed that the Nigerian sound would have been greater than it is currently if more musicians had embraced collaboration in the early stages of their careers.
Speaking during an interview on the Afropolitan podcast, Asika claimed that only a handful of Nigerian artists have actually been instrumental in projecting Afrobeats to the world.
According to him, if household names like Wizkid and Davido had prioritised collaboration right from the beginning, the Afrobeats would have gained even more global traction.
He cited the success of Latin music, attributing it to the thoughtful collaborations among artists like Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Nicky Jam.
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“My biggest piece of advice is always things like, ‘do not make the mistakes we made. A perfect example of not making mistakes we made was our collective knowledge of Latin music.
For example, Latin music is very popular due to the collaboration of artists like Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Nicky Jam. That’s a mistake we made.
If Davido, Wizkid, and everybody at that point were all collaborating. The probability of our genre being bigger and more successful, even little things like ticket value at shows being stronger, would be a thing. Social media creates a lot of problems,” he said.
He further emphasised the importance of staying grounded and continuously seeking knowledge in the Nigerian music industry.
Asa disclosed that nobody knows it all, hence his decision to always learn from others who are more experienced.
“So, for me, it’s a matter of advice: don’t get sucked into a world where you’re no longer realistic about what’s real and what’s fake,.
Obviously, ask questions, like one thing I’m very, obviously ask questions. One thing I’m very proud of is that they will tell you, ‘ You can call me right now, you can call Sam Frank now, Anthony, how did you do this? ‘ Where did you get this? I have no shame in doing that,” Asika said.
Davido’s manager concluded by saying that the acquisition of knowledge never ends for human beings, as long as we are still breathing.
“For me, acquiring knowledge never stops. So, for me, it’s just that, like educating people and just advising them based on the experience that I have attained over the years and also finding a way to still maintain the young boy. I’m not that old,” he added.
