Once upon a time, it didn’t matter whether you were an American or British celebrity (even of African heritage). During your wedding, if you decided to hire a performer to serenade your bride, you most likely were not looking to hire an African artist. You often and most likely opted for an American musician. In 2019, we have seen the tide change, and frankly, it has been changing for the last few years. Now, if you are the aforementioned celebrity, and especially one whose bride is a fan of an African musician, you will ensure that an African celebrity musician performs on you and your bride’s special day.
Such is the case of British Hollywood Actor Idris Elba who ensured Davido was at his wedding to perform for his beautiful bride, Sabrina Dhowre. Dhowre is apparently a huge Davido fan. Davido’s performance marks yet another important moment in pop culture that moves the needle forward in taking Nigerian and Afrobeats music worldwide.
Speaking of Afrobeats global domination, Davido, himself, has been enjoying a gradual yet steady climb up the Billboard charts with his 2017 hit single “Fall.” In February 2019, Fall became the longest charting Nigerian pop song on the Billboard chart.
Davido is currently working on two albums for two continents (U.S. and Africa) and the future looks very bright for him, Nigerian music and the Afrobeats genre. Now, whether that translates to huge monetary gains/benefits for African music industry stakeholders, as a whole, is a different discussion.
Anyway, congratulations to Idris Elba and his bride, and Davido for the opportunity.
-Ms. Uduak
Photo credit: BellaNaija.com