The Africa Day Benefit Concert kicked off with a roll call of the artists and guests making appearances on the show. We think we spotted Jidenna in the bathroom and Mr Eazi jumping on the sofa. But that’s not all you missed.
The opening speech was given by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is the President of South Africa and the Chairman of the Africa Union. In his speech, he encouraged people to continue in the spirit of unity and do what they can to help each other. This was followed by the first performance of the concert which was Davido singing ‘Intro’ off his album ‘A Good Time’.
Following this are performances by South Africa’s Sho Madjozi, Congo’s Fally Ipupa, Kenya’s Sauti Sol and Nigeria’s Teni Makanaki. Musicians Ludacris, Sean Paul and Yvonne Chaka Chaka all dialled in to drop encouraging messages to encourage people to stay united and help one another in these trying periods.
We saw duet performances by Yemi Alade and Angélique Kidjo, DJ Maphorisa and Kabza de Small and Toofan Official. There were also group performances by Femi Kuti and the band Egypt 80 and the Ndoluvu Youth Choir. The legendary Senegalese singer, Ismaël Lô also performed while playing two instruments at the same time.
Reekado Banks gave us a beautiful acoustic version of his song ‘Rora’ and Adekunle treated us to a beautiful performance of ‘Jore’. South African rapper AKA switched things up with a band performance of his song ‘Jika’ while Diamond Platinumz took us a tour of his lavish home in South Africa while serenading us to his song ‘Jeje’.
Timi Dakolo and Cobhams Asuquo gave us an emotional performance of their song ‘There’s A Cry’ while Stonebwoy from Ghana prayed for strength for all Africans and for the people on the frontlines fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. He also asked for strength from God, as he performed his song ‘Strength and Hope’. And a special message of thanks was given to all the health workers who have made it possible for us to still be here and have a semblance of a normal life.
Several personalities also described what they felt Africa is on three words. Angélique Kidjo, Vanessa Mdee and Boity Thumelo and more all described Africa and resilient, lush and beautiful. They also spoke on when they realised that Africa’s time had come. Times likes when the first female president was elected in Africa, when South Africa hosted the World Cup and when the Toronto Raptors won the NBA championship with an African coach leading them were mentioned.
C4 Pedro was all smiles and cool vocals as he sang ‘Ultima Poeta’, Bebe Cool had us feeling in love with ‘I Will Love You Everyday’ and Niniola and Busiswa had us feeling like we were at an ‘owambe’ party. Tiwa Savage wowed us with her vocals on a special medley performance of her song ‘Attention’ and a performance from the legend, Salif Keita.
The rappers showed up and did not disappoint with Ghanian rapper, M.anifest leading the charge with a hype performance of his song ‘Gamble’. Nasty C all the way from South Africa thrilled us to the bumping bass of his song ‘There They Go’. Did we mention Kida Kudz performed his song ‘Magestical’ shirtless? Well, he did and we are grateful.
Several artists were also spotlighted as rising artists out of Africa and they gave us wonderful performances as well. Among them were French-Cameroonian artist and producer, James BKS who performed with the New Breed gang, Canadian based Somalian rapper Awlyver, Shadow Boxxer, Wavy Boy Smith and Drizilik.
Trevor Noah, The Daily Show host gave us some historical insights into the background of Africa Day, extolling Kwame Nkrumah as one of the pioneering forces that pushed Africa to the top. He also introduced Burna Boy who closed the show with his performance of ‘Collateral Damage’.
It was a fun show, and if you are regretting not catching it live, not to worry because the stream is still up on MTV Base Africa’s Youtube Channel. Experience the beauty and unity of Africa and the concert takes you on a virtual tour across Africa touching not just Africans here, but also those in the diaspora.
