Davido, Tiwa Savage and Mr. Eazi revealed alot of things during their interviews with the interviewer of Billboard.
Here are the few things they said:
Billboard Interviewer: How have you been adjusting creatively and personally to life during the pandemic?
Tiwa Savage: At first, it was kind of difficult for me to get my head around. I had a tour planned, a bunch of festivals lined up. When it finally dawned on me that those weren't going to happen this year, it made me wake up and realize how fragile life is and how we take it for granted. So I've been spending time with my son and speaking on the phone more with my family. More importantly, I've been giving out food to people around my neighbourhood. I can quarantine for a month or couple of months, but some of these people don't even have food for tomorrow.
Mr. Eazi: I'm 19 minutes out of London, living in a small community and finally getting back to jogging. But musically, it's been an eye-opener for me. During this lockdown, I've not recorded any new music. But I'm on zoom calls almost the whole day working on my business or talking with one of my new artists, listening to records abd and setting up release plans. I thought I would have been frustrated by not being able to go out of the farm. But I've always been an entrepreneur of investing more of my time and resources towards my business.
Davido: Man, it's been crazy because my fiancee actually tested positive for COVID-19 but has recovered. I was on tour in America, with six shows done and 19 sold out shows left. We were in Denver setting in my hotel room, listening to the news. We looked at each other and said, 'Yo, let's just tell ourselves the truth'. It's about to be a wrap. New York had put a cap or shows at 500 people, then 200 the next day. So we all came back and did the test. My fiancée was in London with the baby. She's the only one that came out positive. She had to isolate; I had to isolate. I did two tests after that, and they came out negative. I just got back home to Lagos a week ago. Since then I've been recording.
Billboard Interviewer: Tiwa, have you encountered additional challenges as a female artist?
Tiwa Savage: Alot of people in Africa still have the idea that a woman has to be submissive, stay at home and be a wife and mother. Don't get me wrong. These are great morals to keep. But I think the modern African woman, the modern black woman is being limited. We can do both. You can have a successful full-time job, you can be strong and vulnerable at the same time. That's the message I'm trying to put across. So when you see my videos or see me on the red carpet, don't think I'm not at home cooking for my son or helping him with homework when I'm not doing shows.
Billboard interviewer: Do you still encounter stereotypes about Africa abroad?
Davido: Some people are still not fully educated about how life is here. I did an interview in Los Angeles a couple of months back and the dude was just so ignorant, basically asking if Afro beats is a phase. The only way to understand is to come and see for yourself. When most people come down here, they're both surprised and disappointed because for their whole lives, they've had a different idea of what it's like. Like everywhere else there are good parts and bad parts in Africa. There are places even in America that look worse.
Tiwa Savage: It was alot worse before, when people literally thought we lived in trees, that was a big misconception. But it's changing as people see pictures via social media when people visit places like Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Nothing beats that experience when somebody actually lands in Africa. And depends where in Africa, because it is a continent not a country. Others think that maybe Africans don't speak English or it is not our first language. So they're surprised when they hear us singing along to J.Cole,Future or whoever. They're also surprised at how upto date we are with the rest of the world. In music, fashion, everything. When you come to Nigeria, you'll experience the beauty of Africa, but you'll still feel like you're somewhere in New York. We're still maintaining our identity and culture.
Mr. Eazi: The misperception I always run into is one of general ignorance: people classifying all the music coming out of Africa as Afrobeats. To drive from Lagos to Accra is a nine hour drive. In that journey. You pass through Benin and Togo. Even within those two countries that are alot of different tribes. The language and culture are as different as the rhythms and BPMs of the music. You can at have a hit song in Nigeria but it won't be a hit in Ghana. I didn't go to America until I was 20 something. What I'd known of America was what I'd seen in music videos and movies. To see homeless people in places where it was cold and freezing - It was the first time I experienced that.
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