Music heavyweights converged on Sunday in Dakar, Senegal for the eighth edition of the All-Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), which aims to celebrate and promote the continent’s best veterans and top musicians.
World-renowned stars including Senegalese maestro Youssou Ndour and Nigerian artists P-Square and Tiwa Savage are among those to perform during the main awards ceremony at the 15,000-capacity Dakar Stadium.
Gabonese singer and AFRIMA nominee Espoir La Tigresse was among the extravagantly dressed guests posing on the red carpet before the ceremony.
“I’m wearing a mask from my tribe in Gabon, which represents a traditional dance from my village, to show that I’m proud of my culture and I wanted to share it with the people here today,” she told.
The mass appeal of contemporary genres such as Afrobeats, where artists sing and rap over electronic backing tracks, has in recent years translated into record sales and sold-out concerts by some African artists across the continent, as well as in the United States and parts of Europe.
AFRIMA President Mike Dada said before the ceremony said “This is such an exciting moment in African music and we are proud of how these artists have been able to cross over into multiple markets both domestically and globally”.
The companies are cashing in on the growing global interest in African music. Last June, Universal Music Group launched a label for independent African labels and artists, while music streaming platforms, including Spotify, sought to expand their offerings to include African artists.
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