How Nigeria’s Emerging Acts Are Navigating the Pivot to Virtual Spaces

This is the same for Celestearth, who describes her sound as surreal, transcendental and calming, and for whom convincing an audience is an integral part of performance that can only work in a physical space. In her own words, "Having a feel of it [her sound] through live performances is like finally touching an aura. Technically live performances give a better aura than recordings or social media in general."

The shut down of congregational spaces has greatly affected creatives in the music industry, especially emerging artists whose sounds are yet to latch on to the ears of substantial amounts of listeners enough to retain a healthy engagement outside of physical performances.

This ban, which is an undeniably necessary security measure, is greatly redefining the possibilities of connection for many Nigerian music artists. There has been a heavy pivot to virtual spaces where people can watch their favorite artists sing, talk to them while reading their thoughts in real-time. What was once used for regular updates and the documentation of mundane or special experiences has become a useful means to keeping fans glued to their phone screens. Virtually curated music sessions like Udux X-Switch which hosted Asa andDavido, and Youtube's #stayhomewithme festival, have all tapped into this new wave, but while it is exciting for artists in mainstream genres and with a considerably bigger online following, emerging artists have to do more while trying to enjoy the shifting dynamics and lessons it brings, creatively speaking.

Kingsley from the contemporary highlife band, The Cavemen, tells me "This time has made me realize how we take things for granted, it makes the physical space special."

The Cavemen, whose last physical event was held last month, have naturally had their tour canceled, are putting out new music and exploring ways to keep their fans engaged.

On keeping his fans engaged, Yinka Bernie says, "I made a post for my fans to send me their emails, then my team sent out a mail to all of them. I made a separate instagram to interact and share content with those fans and they also got the chance to listen to my upcoming album privately"

Remy Baggins tells me he has been doing interviews and beat breakdowns on Instagram live for the most part, these, along with a couple of call-in radio interviews. "I've also been sharing some home made content to promote my new EP and it's been going well so far."

Mo'believe and Dwin are both taking opinions from fans so as to know exactly what content fans would love to engage with. Celestearth has been making random song-writing videos, and multi-genre artist Joyce Olongis increasing her social media engagement while working to put out new music soon.

It can be argued that this period has leveled the playing field in some way, it has broken down some walls and upturned the agency of gate-keepers in the industry, particularly for emerging artists in Nigeria, where there are almost no incubation platforms. The equal medium with which entertainment can now be accessed, however overwhelming the options may be, could potentially help the rise of overlooked talents. As rapper Reespect tells me, "[The official processes of labels] will become useless, [music] will become a very direct thing, between the artist and the fans"

But right now, the playing field is anything but equal—in both creative and financial terms. If bigger artists can afford to cancel tours and other events lined up before the arrival of the pandemic, these cancellations mean much more for emerging artists. Artists like The Cavemen have found the income from music streams highly resourceful at a time when other sources of income such as ticket sales, bookings or endorsements have been put on hold.

Singer, Preyé Itams tells me of the unavoidable cancellation of the plans she had before the pandemic set in. "I had a few shows to do in Lagos. Had shoots canceled. Also was meant to travel out to a couple of places because I had some things planned for my music as well, but they closed the borders and the pandemic really won."

Above all of this, artists of all levels are learning to thrive. They are learning to adapt, adjust and develop innovative means of staying present, not just in the lives of their fans, but in their own lives as well.

Dwin also recalls how performing began to feel different during his Juju live session "[Different] in that for the first time as an artist I got to see the thoughts of my fans typed out in front of me while I sang. They typed the lyrics, made requests, told me what the songs meant to them. I had them ask me questions and I answered them. They made me laugh a lot. It felt like I was in a room with friends and I was singing to them." He tells me.

Live performances might not happen any time soon, even with the ease of the lockdown that kicked in on May 4 in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital, Abuja. However, virtual spaces also hold their own potential.

With plans to host other virtual concerts soon, artists are coming to terms with this redefined meaning of connection, while fans now exist in a world where their favourite artists are becoming gloriously human and growing closer than ever.