Is Beyonce really gentrifying Africa?
The answer is a two-fold, but there is a preponderance to the ‘No’ than to the ‘Yes.’
On July 31, 2020, American singer, Beyonc Knowles released her film, ‘Black Is King’ on Disney+. Before then, she had teased a video for ‘Already,’ her smashing cut with Shatta Wale.
A video for, ‘Brown Skin Girl,’ her collaboration with Nigerian superstar, Wizkid, American singer/rapper, Saint jHN and her daughter, Blue Ivy was also teased some days later. These two songs alongside cuts from Black Is King were part of her hugely lauded, Africa-centric album, The Lion King: The Gift.
It felt like a crowning moment of her unrepentant portrayal of blackness. She even embodied an amazing African goddess like, Osun at some point. Even a video for such a girl-power anthem, ‘Girls’ was hugely inspired by Africa - it also tied into the viral flash mob conversation of that time though. Equally, the choreographers were from Africa.
For Beyonce, her blackness has always been like an armour. More than an identity, it’s also been defining the tenet of her art. However, she has started to get flack for it. In the thick of Black Lives Matter protests, a Nigerian took to her Twitter account to voice her criticism for Beyonce.
In a since deleted tweet, she questioned why Beyonce always celebrates Africa from afar and has never actually done a tour in Africa. On August 1, 2020, American rapper, Noname also appeared to throw jabs at Beyonce.
In a July 31, 2020 tweet, Noname wrote, “We love an African aesthetic draped in capitalism. [I] hope we remember the [black] folks on the continent whose daily lives are impacted by [US] imperialism.
“If we can uplift the imagery, I hope we can uplift those who will never be able to access it. Black liberation is a global struggle.”
As polarizing as Noname is right now and as problematic as the take was, it did have a measure of credence.
The questions then remain;
Is Beyonce really gentrifying Africa through her art?
Is there more Beyonce can do beyond simply using Africanism and blackness as the focus of her art?
Let’s go with the second one first. The truth is, Beyonce is one of the biggest artists in the world, with a fan base to match. As much as anything, Africa faces a problem of perception. Some people still think Africans live on trees and all that. The recidivism rate is really high amongst Americans.
REFERENCE: Beyonce's 'The Lion King' album must not become another 'Black Panther'
Aside from that, that recidivism is a disadvantage to Africa and some people benefit from it. What Beyonce’s moves with her art, an album like The Lion King: The Gift, pictures like Black Is King and Black Panther do is incredible. Their impact is subconscious and they will stand the test of time.
More than anything, they are reworking the perspective that the world has of Africa. If the world was seeing wasteland before, it now thinks possibilities. If it thought of Africa as ‘limitation’ before, it now sees beauty amplified by an unrepentantly black global superstar who continually identifies with her roots by amplifying its artistic beauty.
More so, those things will also take a toll on Beyonce. A large section of her fan base will not be able to relate to her elevation of Africa and blackness, yet she does it continually.
That said, it will take more than a game of perception to improve Africa. Make no mistake, Beyonce is one human being and Africa needs more people to join her movement, but more affirmative action will be needed to actually support everything she has been doing.
By action, we mean actually bringing the purpose to Africa. Yes, Beyonce has been to Nigeria and Africa severally. However, this could be something bigger - like a tour. Yes, we know that it’s a big ask. If Beyonce will come to Africa, two questions have to be answered;
Music standpoint: The type of crowd she could pull. This will not be a problem in any part of the world.
Financial standpoint: Tours are not meant for show, they are a money making venture. Moreover, when you’re Beyonce your tours require 100 times the effort of the biggest tours.
She is one of the greatest performers of all-time and her African tour will require even more than her current tours dates require. On her Formation World Tour, she had a secondary stage that stores and produces 2,000 gallons of water. It cost thousands of dollars.
In total, the tour grossed $256 million from 49 sold-out shows according to Billboard Boxscore, and was ranked at No. 2 on Pollstar's 2016 Year End Tours chart.
When that is answered, we then have to look at if she will recoup Live Nation’s outlay. The answer is simple; no. Beyonce doesn’t throw substandard shows and Africa wouldn’t be able to pay her. That means she and Live Nation run at a loss.
Africans cannot afford to pay $4 for music streaming. They will definitely not pay $50-$100 to see Beyonce live. To fill Eko Hotels sometimes, show promoters have to beg God.
More so, according to Forbes, average tickets for Beyonce’s Ms. Carter Show World Tour cost $294.
It even comes at a sensitive time in the event business. Most of the showrunners are taking heavy losses.
This leads to the second issue; Is Beyonce really gentrifying Africa?
The answer is a two-fold, but there is a preponderance to the ‘No’ than to the ‘Yes.’
For ‘No,’ Beyonce is not gentrifying Africa. There’s only so much you can ask her to do. She’s a celebrity and Africa has not done enough for her to lose something in the region of $20 million or more on an African tour, it simply makes no sense. And no, she will not come to live in Africa, let’s get real.
For ‘Yes,’ blackness and Africanism have been paying Beyonce. As she heads into her veteran days, it’s become a brand that will pay her. Disney paid her for Black Is King and Africa is only an idealistic beneficiary in that, Beyonce is the actual beneficiary.
More so, moves like Black Panther and Black Is King are idealistic victories that serve more fiction than reality. That’s why Noname’s thoughts make sense in some ways. Nonetheless, Noname’s overt, aggressive black liberation rhetorics have started to seem more performative than authentic.
She’s never been this relevant, even though she is an amazing rapper. There’s nothing like bad publicity, right?
That said, it will be unfair to simply call what she does total gentrification. After all, she didn’t have to do it when she started doing it. More so, we should give her time. Only in a few years will we know what she truly represents to Africanism. For now, she is doing great things and Africa should support her.
In the end, in the imperial words of Afeez ‘Naira Marley’ Fasola, a Yoruba philosopher marooning as a rapper, “ Ole ni everybody, eni ile bamo sa ni barawo.” In English, it means, “We are all thieves, but only the ones who get accosted get outed.”
Here are the song on the Listen Africa! Playlist on Apple Music, YouTube Music, Audiomack, Deezer and Boomplay;
AFRO&B
Kemi Ade - Remedy
AYLØ ft Tay Iwar - LITT!
Hak Baker - 7 am
Azana - Uthando Lwangempela
Irma - Save Me
Afropop
Eri Ife & Remy Baggins - B'Ori Pe
Patoranking - Abule
Crayon - Sometime
Reinhard Tega ft Funbi - Arewa
KingAjaa - Shin Shin
Rap
Klu - Own Money
Sarkodie - CEO Flow
Dara Alamutu - Some Fun
Popsnotthefather - Rapstarcaviar
Trill Xoe - How To Act
Alternative/EDM/Folk
Nonso Bassey - My Agbani
Lamide Sanni - Labule
T’Chella - Not Alone
Maze x Mxtreme - Know You (Remix)
JoeyTurks - Always
#ListenAfricaExtra - Here are additional bits of content from the past week;
You can read Motolani Alake’s interview with Nigerian rapper, Reminisce HERE.
You can read Motolani Alake’s interview with Temi Gomez, about how to manage a BBNaija contestant from the real world HERE.
Here are the best 15 Nigerian producer-artist combos since ‘99.
Fu’ad Lawal, Editor-In-Chief at Zikoko starts a newsletter, Vistanium.
Veteran Culture Journalist, Ayomide Tayo launched the first installment of his newsletter, Naija Times.You can also get his podcast, 234 Essential HERE.
Veteran Journalist and Tech professional, Chiagoziem Onyekwena also manages GetDotAfrica, a weekly newsletter on happenings in African Tech.
Davido Adeleke, Head of Communication at Eko Atlantic started Communique, a newsletter.
Veteran Nigerian Journalist and Director of Marketing at OPay, Osagie Alonge is back with a new podcast titled, A Music In Time.
You can get the playlist on all five streaming platforms HERE.
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Shoot us an email for playlist inclusion or a feature: curatealisten@gmail.com