Why are fans subconsciously against the evolution of artists?
We might choose to like it or hate it, but evolution must happen. When that happens, you have to give the music a fair chance.
It’s August 24, 2020, and I had just written a review for Adekunle Gold’s album, ‘Afro Pop Vol. 1.’ The review got some Burna Boy fans pointlessly riled up because they decided to act like thoughtless stans and not read the article before them. The responses also brought a very peculiar statement.
One of the responses to the review on Twitter went, “Anything apart from his debut album to me is trash. About 30 was trash, the latest is too.” From the peculiarity of that statement, one could presume that this listener is quite simply against Adekunle Gold’s evolution - and that’s fair. As fans, we want what we want and we like what we like.
But the problem with not wanting an artist to change equals career suicide for that artist. In an interview with Pulse Nigeria, Adekunle Gold detailed how he started making the Folksy/Highlife sound, delivered predominantly in Yoruba that formed the basis of his debut album, Gold.
In fairness, that style was so refreshing to Nigerians as Adekunle Gold felt like a more refined version of traditional folk singers. Sometimes, Adekunle Gold could also manipulate the melodies of his voice to mimic Fuji or Apala artists. Songs like, ‘Sade’ and ‘Pick Up’ became pop culture sensations that influenced the Nigerian tide of music and changed Adekunle Gold’s life.
But immediately after releasing that album, Adekunle Gold felt like he needed to change that sound to avoid a career pigeonhole that he might struggle to break out of. So, his next album, About 30 was intentionally infused with more Pop and Afro-pop records.
The album created a conflict with critics and fans who expected more of that Folksy/Highlife sound. Thus, that was not well-received.
Admittedly, maybe that switch came too early for Adekunle Gold, but his current evolution is necessary for him. Fans have a choice to either like it or not like it. And to both sides of the divide, there’s a compelling argument. For the ones who will like the album, they were willing to detach themselves from expectations and actually listen to albums for what it is.
For those who won’t like it, a section of them will not just like the music even after listening to it for what it is. But for the other section, they will not like the music because they want the Adekunle Gold of old - the Adekunle Gold of the Gold coast… sorry, album. The people in the latter category qualify as fans who want their favourite artists to remain a certain way.
Why are fans subconsciously against the evolution of artists?
Music lovers are like a dog with a bone. We are also left-brained people who think with emotions and feelings rather than logic. That’s why we like keeping our new artist discoveries to ourselves for a minute before deciding to share them with anybody else. That’s also why we have opinions and love music.
It’s why a Hip-Hop head will always call Trap Music or Naira Marley or Zlatan trash and ‘not Hip-Hop.’ It’s why a Hip-Hop head would also want their favourite artists to remain urban and never go mainstream. That Hip-Hop head isn’t a bad person, he’s just sentimental and attached to the kind of music he likes.
That’s why he wants his favourite artist or recent discovery to remain the way he discovered him or her. It’s why he will call that artist a ‘sell-out’ if the artist decides to evolve. As much as music is released for public consumption, the experience of every listener is unique and personal - and that’s a blessing as well as the problem.
It’s a blessing because it means an artist has superfans, but having superfans is fickle.
Artists must evolve or die
During that interview with Pulse Nigeria, Adekunle Gold underlines the need to evolve. He says, “If you live your life for validation, it will be hard to change and when you don’t change, you will forever live in a decorated box where people put you. If I hadn’t done what I wanted to do, I would have been classified a legend barely three years after my debut album because people were already likening me to legends.
“And when people call you a legend when they shouldn’t, it’s a decent way of saying, ‘You’re good at that, but it’s okay.’ Unknowingly, fans give artists a room - or a number of years - to shine and once that elapses, you’re overdoing it.
“When I came out, I was hot in my first three years. If I had continued doing the same thing, there would have been no room to talk about me like they are now.
“What’s important to me is that I express myself with freedom. What would break me and kill me is if I find myself in a box where I only wear kampala and sing in Yoruba.”
In this market, superfans are currency. But for an artist who wants to stand the test of time, you have to evolve and gain new superfans. You can’t just rely on the old ones because those old ones will find new favourite artists and their attention will be split.
During the amazing chat between DJ Vlad and Akon, the former asked the latter why T-Pain faded and Akon said, “T-Pain’s career never advanced because he never left the hood. He confined his music to urban music… I saw T-Pain as another me; going to urban, going to pop, going to EDM, going to Latin…
“Urban audience ain’t loyal, every year there’s a new nigga. You gotta maximize your urban presence and right as that new slide in, you exit. You gotta continue to reinvent yourself…”
The truth is that what Akon said of the urban audience is just reminiscent of any audience. Taylor Swift isn’t urban, but she had to go totally pop after she released RED to stay relevant. The same thing can be said of the quintessential creative chameleons like Beyonce and Kanye West who evolved on every album.
Even Jay Z became more commercial from The Blueprint 3. His core fans didn’t like his album, Magna Carta, Holy Grail just like some fans aren’t liking Adekunle Gold’s Afro Pop Vol. 1, but you have to listen again.
Magna Carta, Holy Grail was the birth of the capitalist Jay Z - it was a solemn offering to White America, where he was talking about cool stuff like Picazo, the Magna Carta, Miley Cyrus and more.
The same thing can also be said of Drake. Speaking about Drake during that interview, Akon said, “That motherfucker is a genius… He’s revolutionary. You know why? Because he’s pivoting. He’s not sticking to that one pocket. And that’s the only way to do it. The moment you get stuck in that one pocket and get completely urban, forget it.”
Of course, there are outliers like Adele who only slightly change but get bigger by the album. Then, there are acts like Yemi Alade who have been mostly doing the same thing for eight years and only get more successful. But for every other person, they must evolve.
In a recent interview with Pulse Nigeria, DJ Cuppy said, “I like to experiment. I like to switch things up sometimes - it’s music. I can’t afford to stay stagnant. I also have to make music about things that resonate with me and about how I feel. That’s how I made ‘Gelato’ or ‘Charged Up’ or ‘Jollof On The Jet.’
“And sometimes, it’s better to experiment than to stay stagnant. Sometimes, I feel like people need to give artists a chance to express and experiment. The place of an audience is important, but the artist must also be given a chance to evolve. Sometimes, I feel like the criticism is because of my personality and the open, honest way I was raised to live my life. But it is what it is, right [laughs].”
The problem with an artist not evolving and sticking to what fans want is that; what that artist wants to morph into but refrained from because of his fans will be what those fans like in another artist. Thus, the love splits. No artist is just for one fan and no fan is just for one artist. Even if it pains music lovers, an artist must evolve.
Now, we might choose to like it or hate it, but it must happen. When that happens, you have to give that music a fair chance.
#ListenAfricaExtra - Here are additional bits of content from the past week;
This week, Excel Joab spoke with fast-rising singer, songwriter and producer, Attifaya.
You can read Motolani Alake’s interview with Adekunle Gold HERE.
You can read Motolani Alake’s interview with Cuppy HERE.
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
Here are the song on the Listen Africa! Playlist on Apple Music, YouTube Music, Audiomack, Deezer and Boomplay;
Tiwa Savage - Celia’s Song
S-Tone -Emadleleni
Musa - Thandiwe
Hunter Rose - By Your Side
Patrick McVroom ft Topnotch Toby - Wild
Skip Marley - Faith
Willy Paul - Prakata
Tiwa Savage - Koroba
Jahblend - Embargo
Cuppy ft Seyi Shay - Labalaba
ISAH - Gidi Nights
Mazi Codex - Ha Ah
Nasty C - Feeling
TiZ EAST - NIGHT
- Many Things
Sal LY - Been A Long Time
Larry Gaaga + Umu Obiligbo = Owo Ni Koko
George Kalukusha & Mr Eazi - Tender (265)
The Cavemen - Beautiful Rain
G-West - Wire