By Joseph Akahome and Osagie Alonge
Foremost international news company, CNN International recently released a list of Africa’s biggest music stars and leading the pack is none other than Nigerian singer Asa.
Asa (born Bukola Elemide) who was recently featured in the December 2011 issue of ‘ELLE Brazil’ magazine (which has a trans-sexual model Lea T on the cover) is one of three Nigerians on the list.
The other two Nigerians on the list are Nigerian-German singer and songwriter Nneka and celebrated pop singer 2face Idibia who come third and fourth place respectively.
The top ten list was compiled based on fame, fan base and the number of concerts the artistes have performed around the world.
Check out the full list below…
Top Ten Music Stars In Africa
Asa (Nigeria)
K’Naan (Somalia)
Nneka (Nigeria)
2face Idibia (Nigeria)
Rocky Dawuni (Ghana)
Amadoue et Mariam (Mali)
Youssou N’Dour (Senegal)
Salif keita (Mali)
Ladysmith Black Mambazo (South Africa)
Cesaria Evora (Cape Verde Island)
17 comments
Quite impressive. But then Nneka isnt realy wel known in 9ja, yet she’s on top
@Kingsley,God wld bless u for that comment u posted.Nneka is not even known in Naija,her own home country NOT even well known like u put it gaan sef.It shows that this list is purely sentimental.Whilst i appreciate that they at least remembered to put my 2face,i cannot help but believe and confirm that Asa and Nneka are on this list b’cos they are both signed onto European labels.The criteria they av listed is absolute bull…..Even Asa who is averagely known in Naija has some question marks.Whilst i agree that she’s a very good instrumentalist wiv good vocals jus like so many others who were not listed frm Naija,i must mention that fame cuts across all age groups frm kids to even grandparents which i don’t think her so called ‘fame’ meets up with.I bet if a skool pupil who is even quite enlightened wld deffo not know who Asa is as opposed to Tuface,D’Banj and P-Square etc.Anywhoo,thumbs up to them and even many kudos to those who some feel shlda been dere but were not!
the list says top 10 ‘music stars’ not entertainers or ‘remixers’ who cannot replicate vocal performances outside their home country. in other words proper musicians who sing proper lyrics not ‘do me’ or ‘wahala dey’.
Agree wif u jyde… Nigerians dont understand good musicians from entertainers… If pple from outside d country can vote dem dere, wonder y nigerians dont know dem.. Dey actually prefer akpako master…
Dis pple knw wat they ar doin b4 they can pik around africa they wil select dos pple dat can sing vaocal not the pple dat can remix or entertain ok
Lmfao! Una no go kill person wiv laff! It was boldly stated de criterias and one of dem was jammin @ world concerts worldwide abi una blind? Apart frm 2baba and asa who else amongs de lots we have dey jam 4 world class concerts? Dey only go and jam @ a lil clubs over dere wiv less dan 20people and cm here 2 make crazy noize posin as stars nw,make una wake up 2 de true reality we get noize makers and not international stars! Jide and ken thumpz up!
Hey peeps y’all make me laugh esp wiv some statement….the criteria used in selecting the artisits go beyond their level of popularity in their home country but world wide..nneka and asa are way more popular than d’banj nd psquare,forget all d whole snoop dogg remix and all.on the intl level nneka is a more complete nd respected artist..everybody on that deserves to be there..
Nawaoo where’s dbanj nd psquare,dis list na trash,2baba popular pass asa nd nneka 4 naija here even dbanj sef popular pass dem,anyways weda dbanj nd psquare name no dey dere dem be bosss!
Very unbiased..asa has my full backin cos she tkes nig muzic 2 anoda level,2face,africa’s most gifted singa..nneka.smh
Men i love this list thumbs up to the compilers
Good Selections… Asa can’t be compared with D’banj when it comes to entertaining ppl, but when we r talking about an artist who plays classical music and who really know about music, d’banj and p square will definitely out of it. So I think Asa beats most musicians in nigeria cos she read music and she really got inspiration insyd her
its a pity that a good number do not understand what being a huge music star means. singing off-key with unskilled backups to a sound track is absolute crap by all reasonable standards. this list pin points people who work hard and are capable of performing on world class stages with live bands. dont u just wonder why the likes of KSA and obey are still relevant in this age? they have talent, skill and content…
the list is okay, but tuface was suposd 2 b at d top b4 asa. As 4 nneka i think there ar beta acts dat ar suposd 2 take her place instead, Like omawumi. I neva hear any nneka song
The likes of Dbanj n psquares shud go to d drawin board(they ar just too empty).
Thumbs up to our Nigerian musicians doing us proud. The selection was based on a certain criteria and i don’t think it’s about winning awards or collabos. Asa deserves that top spot as her lyrics are deep and can be enjoyed by everyone from teenager to taxi-driver to diplomat. Congrats to her and i am also happy that 2face and Nneka made the list. Its great we are not only topping corruption or prostituition lists. Regards.
d banj and psquare’s music lack the content to be recognized worldwide.its a pity that the Nigeria multitude prefer to listen to dance tracks which makes no sense and cannot be related to.which is the reason why nneka is not “popular” in her home country. am not really sure I can remember the FIFA game, but nneka song was on it. Eva herd a dbanj and psquare song in a movie,game or documentary. common.
Nice list,very credible and realistic. Big ups to ASA cos she got the intl recognition. Pls watch American films like Privilege and Skins to confirm Asa’s status. Her songs were used as movie tracks in both Season Films