Niniola finally comes to Afropolitan Vibes

Niniola, Ric Hassani and Brymo are performing guests at the popular Lagos event’s 49th show. The three artists have different histories with the Afropolitan Vibes movement.

While Brymo has showed up on the Afropolitan Vibes stage a couple of times in the past, Ric Hassani was at the Afropolitan Vibes concert held earlier in the year. Niniola, the only female act in the line-up, is also the only newcomer – some Afropolitan Vibes regulars had inquired about the possibility of her performing at the show.

All three acts have also released albums over the past year. Ric Hassani’s debut album The African Gentleman was released late August last year. Niniola’s This Is Me, also a first album, dropped in October. The line-up’s veteran, Brymo, released his sixth album Oso in March this year.

Before the Afropolitan Vibes festival, the last of the concert series was held last December and featured hit-making duo of the 2000s Danfo Drivers, 1990s great Shina Peters and newbie Teni Entertainer. Such a temporal mix of performers has become typical of the festival. That event also had a German artist named D’Flame perform – a nod to the show’s global outlook.

But for this edition, the organisers have opted for both contemporary artists and entirely Nigerian ones, all of whom could be said to be working at the peak of their recording careers.

“It was not a conscious decision,” Ade Bantu, co-producer of the event and leader of the house band, told Music In Africa. “We curate organically. Brymo has a new album which we like and after seeing Ric Hassani at the Urban Sessions [a section of the Afropolitan Vibes festival] we felt he deserved to be showcased at Afroplitan Vibes. We have been in discussion with Niniola for quite some time but she always had scheduling issues.”

By the next concert, Afropolitan Vibes will clock its 50th performance. The organisers are yet to announce plans for that half-century anniversary. But there have been additions to the organising personnel.

A fortnight ago, the appointment of a project manager was announced. A statement said Lydia Idakula Sobogun “will work in collaboration with co-producer Ade Bantu to curate the quarterly Afropolitan Vibes shows”. The shows other co-producer, Abby Ogunsanya, will now focus “on expanding the scope of the annual Afropolitan Vibes music festival”.

The next Afropolitan Vibes festival will take place next year on 15 and 16 March.