Afrobeats superstar, Rema, has called on Nigerian artistes to protect the “institutions that propel them to international success.”
The 23-year-old made the clarion call while delivering an inspiring acceptance speech about the Nigerian music industry and Afrobeats during the Headies Awards ceremony held on Sunday September 4, 2023 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center in Atlanta, USA.
Rema won the ‘Best Male Artiste’, ‘Digital Artiste Of The Year’ and African Artiste of the Year wards at the 2023 Headies on Sunday night.
While delivering his speech at the award night, the singer urged industry players to protect the Afrobeats genre, stressing that the industry is at risk of losing its acclaim if the ecosystem is neglected in pursuit of personal glory.
“I must say it is very important that I must let everyone know that I am not here because of the award. I am here because it is important to support our institutions. When I say institutions, I mean you know the body that supports you to be able to have these major successes. The media houses, the awards platforms.
“I feel like we are in a very sensitive period that if we do not give attention to our institutions, with this chance that we have, if we miss this chance, we will never have this chance again,” he said.
Rema also took a swipe at artistes who fail to perform at shows as scheduled, blaming them for fans and concert goers’ reluctance to pay for tickets.
He added: “You can see, even in Lagos or in Nigeria, the fans do not even trust the artistes no more. They buy tickets no more. We own Afrobeats. Until this year, Afro Nation is coming to Nigeria. Afro Nation has been doing Portugal. Afro Nation has been doing Ghana. But that shows that our utilities, I mean our institutions, are failing slowly and slowly.
“And it will affect us big time. And that is the reason why I am here. Be it Afro rave, Afro this, Afro that, last last we go jam for Afrobeats award. This is our chance. We are not the first African giant that will make it big. Reggae has done its own. There is a reason why we are doing what we are doing right now. We are bigger. This is our chance to protect what we have.”
Rema has enjoyed a stellar run and the recent awards add to his plethora of achievements, groundbreaking records, and milestones in the past year.
