Since the 1970s, Afrobeat has grown to become a preferred genre of music among many Africans and in the quest to make it a popular genre, a new music reality show, Afrobeat- Search for a Star competition has been launched recently.
Organised by Fame Music, the competition which is open to participants from Africa is to afford many young talents the opportunity to explore the genre and make it quite attractive to the outside world.
Tema Based sound producer/ engineer, Mix Masta Garzy
, who is a judge on the show, said the competition will help to unearth raw talents for the African music industry.
According to him, even though many young artistes love to follow the popular trend of doing hiphop which is in huge demand globally, he said that it was necessary to rebrand Afrobeats “to identity African music from the rest”.
Citing an example of how Nigeria’s Fela Kuti earned international recognition for doing Afrobeat, he said it wastime the new generation rode on its success in the past to make it attractive on the world music stage.
Many jazz musicians have been attracted to Afrobeat. From Roy Ayers in the 70s to Randy Weston in the 90s, there have been collaborations that have resulted in albums such as Africa: Centre of the World by Roy Ayers and Mix Masta Garzy said the Search for a Star competition is just one of the many means to ignite that “legacy”.
Participants are expected to record their own song and a 30 second video to narrate the concept and the final 15 will be selected based on the criteria of the judges, Mix Masta Garzy, Nigeria’s Ice Prince, May7ven and UK based Ghanaian artiste, Abrantee.
Mix Masta Garzy urged many underground artistes to participate in the competition but cautioned that, the rules bar participants from using or doing renditions of other songs.
“We want raw talent that we can groom. This is just to identify our artistes’ strength in Afrobeats so we want all participants to be original.” he said.
He said voting will officially start on Monday, February 16, and the winner will walk away with a good package including a live performance at London’s world famous Jazz Café.
Read the details below
• Countries allowed to participate:
• Algeria, Angola, Benin,
• Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde,
• Central African Rep, Chad, Comoros, Congo,
• Congo {democratic Rep}, Djibouti, Egypt,
• Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia,
• Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya,
• Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali,
• Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia,
• Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal,
• Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa,
• South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia,
• Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe .
• Contestants must be over the age of 16.
• Genres allowed to participate: Afrobeats .
• Contestants can submit 1 track into the first round of the competition.
• The content of a track, including – but not limited to- the lyrics and performances, should be fully in line with the Community Rules (see Article 23 of the Terms of Conditions for Artists). Fame Music will have the right to exclude from the competition and delete, at its sole discretion, any track of which it finds that the track and/or any part of the content thereof in any way is in violation with the Community Rules.
• If the potential winner is under 18 but 16 or older at the time of travelling to UK then they must be accompanied by a guardian over the age of 18.
• Theguardian is responsible for the cost of his travel.
• Media entered must be the work of the contestants and the contestant warrants that the media submitted does not violate any copyright or other IP.
• Receipt of the prizes is subject to conditions.
• How does the voting system work? See our Voting System.
Competition rules are final.
1st Place
• Production of a track with Mix Masta Garzy in London. Flight and accommodation included.
• Your song broadcast live by Abrantee on Capital Xtra
• A live performance at London’s world famous Jazz Café
• International release of the track
2nd Place
• $1,000 in professional kit
3rd Place
• $600 in professional kit
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