Recapping Reeperbahn Festival’s Pan-Africa digital event

Her outfit was disturbingly uncommon for a hip hop artist: A blooming red vest and off-white skirt, with a matching isicholo (Ndebele traditional hat) and adorning bangle-styled jewellery. It was a long way from the typical extravagant caricatures of modern rappers who I’m accustomed to.

To my surprise, the Germany-based musician’s machine-gun raps, pithy and poetic lines, coupled with her stage presence, all made for a highly engaging and explosive performance. Her lyrical content unfolded with political and social issues in her birthplace, and instantly commanded my attention. At this point I realised that my initial thoughts before the event were based on misconceptions about the image of hip hop.

Awa Khiwe raps mostly in her native tongue and isn’t easy to follow, but the gravity and seriousness of the messages could be felt vicariously through the music, which also set the tone for the upcoming industry discussions.

RBF has become an important cultural hub in Germany for unearthing eccentric talent since it was established in the 1950s. For the first time this year, the organisers have shifted their focus towards Africa to promote music from the region, while wrestling with the prevailing critical challenges in the market. When a German-renowned festival and the European community offer Africans an opportunity to participate in a unifying international event, we must heed that call. Not because of the festival’s sudden commitment to make space for Africans, but rather, because it grants us an opportunity to marry like-minded industry stakeholders together to discuss pressing issues in the sector and to establish possible progressive solutions.

Once again, the Music In Africa Foundation and RBF’s reciprocal partnership saw the two organisations working together to see the event come to fruition. In 2019, the German organisation participated at the MIAF’s ACCES music conference in Accra, Ghana. The opening act was preceded by an official introductory session where delegates gave an overview of the upcoming activities, which included panel discussions, keynote addresses, several networking sessions, digital company visits and the hybrid showcase experience with European and African artists. Funded by the by the German Federal Foreign Office, the B2B event also roped in key players operating in Africa and Europe.

Back to the showcase. Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems and her band were next to grace the stage with a sincere performance. She raised the bar by serving a potent dose of her obsessive signature sound, which constantly conquers her fans’ hearts. Next, eccentric South African rapper Yugen Blakrok, who’s no stranger to the festival, joined in for a brief video call from Catalonia in Spain, before her custom-recorded video was premiered. The unhurried song sets off on a dimmed stage where the rapper delivers her typical highly conscious raps over funk and acid jazz-infused instrumentals.

“She killed it 100%,” a viewer reacted to the video on Facebook. “That was a splendid performance, she’s a rare breed.” By the way, the representation of female musicians was the law of the land in this showcase, but each artist’s unique style had a mind-arresting quality.

German-Nigerian rapper Kelvyn Colt was the final performer, although his act turned into an unexpected listening session, with the artist performing an overwhelming number of unreleased songs from his upcoming projects. The curators of the showcase played their part by programming diverse sounds and, for many, unseen acts.

In the first discussion on Day 2 of RBF International Pan-Africa, titled Discover the African Music Markets, The Rave Group and Afro Nation Ghana CEO Ruddy Kwakye spoke about potential opportunities that African musicians are not exploiting, including sync licensing deals and artist merchandise, which could offer musicians a great source of revenue and boost their music sales globally. Kwakye’s argument was seconded by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s regional director for sub-Saharan Africa, Angela Ndambuki, who also suggested that digital music, which generated 86% of total recorded revenues in 2020 and ringback tones both presented lucrative opportunities for artists in Africa. The exec then painted a vivid picture of the issues that are preventing the region from reaching its full potential in terms of digital revenues, singling out piracy and a lack of Internet access in rural areas.

“From June 2018 to June 2019, there were 62 million visits to piracy sites, building up and increasing by 22% from 2019 to 2020 with 75 million visits. You can imagine what happened in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began, and that’s actually loss of revenue to the rights holders,” Ndambuki said, adding that African governments should work together to enforce policies and clamp down on illegal websites, using various tools available like internet treaties.

Another panel touched on new and ground-breaking sounds, which are growing beyond Africa’s borders, as well as the role of streaming and social media in propelling those sounds. Establishing a blueprint for converting distinctive sounds into successful hits was a central question to the conversation, with the panel attempting to unpack emerging genres on the continent. The discussion included musicians Tems and Muzi, who have both carved out their unique sounds. Other activities at the RBF event worth noting included matchmaking and networking opportunities between regional startups and international participants.