Tiwa Savage Ready with Another Afrorock Blockbuster
Tony Amadi
The Nigerian government has gone into the world borrowing market, cap in hand, looking for billions of dollars to finance its 2025 budget. President Bola Tinubu is not even sure that his usually generous Senators were ready to rubber stamp the loan approval as the desperate search for a second term in office moves into high gear.
But his government does not realise that the music industry in Nigeria is a huge source of money supply that it can utilise to get all the money it needs for any of his huge legacy projects such as the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway and other such projects his government is pursuing if it does things the right way.
The Nigerian music industry is probably the biggest money spinner in the world right now, with a crop of superstars who can bring the world down if they wanted to.
There is no venue that it’s artistes cannot fill up internationally, whether it is London’s 02, New York’s Madison Square Garden or stadiums anywhere that Nigeria’s top acts cannot fill up anywhere in the world. From Tiwa Savage to Davido, Flavour Nabania to Wizkid and from Burna Boy to Rema and tens of other top Nigerian acts.
But Nigerian governments in the past and present have never bothered to invest in the infrastructure to enable these talents to blossom at home and improve their works. They never cared about how the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the sixties generated heavy income for British government and how the music industry generated wealth for the nations with appropriate infrastructure that made London the music capital of the world in the sixties.
As the world awaits the fourth album of Nigeria’s top international female act, Tiwa Savage and the first single that emerged from that sizzling effort, there is no doubt that the immensely talented singer and songwriter Tiwa has come up with another blockbuster if your judgment is based on the first single extract from the album – “You 4 Me”
“This One is Personal” is the title of the frenziedly awaited fourth album but she is currently in London putting finishing touches to the release of the single’s video which I had the pleasure of a sneak preview inside the car of Tiwa’s manager Mrs. Vanessa Amadi-Ogbonna on a ride to Watford near London.
The potential popularity that the single will attract was exhibited by seven year old Amara Ogbonna, daughter of Vanessa Amadi-Ogbonna who was not only humming the sultry rhythms of “You 4 Me” but was actually singing along the partly English and Yoruba vocals of the song.
The video of “You 4 Me” was released at midday on 4th June 2025 and should have hit the ears of millions around the globe and by Saturday 14th June 2025 when Tiwa will unleash a live performance, her first in 2025 at Little Simz Festival at London’s South Bank to complete all the pre-marketing efforts for the forthcoming album due in the summer.
Amazing stuff indeed, I must say about this single, particularly, the production by Nigerian US based producer Mystro who foisted the vocal breaks in Yoruba that adds its own brilliance to the single deserve special kudos for this great work of art.
As for the government of Nigeria, the Minister of Creative Economy who is also charged with Arts, Culture and Tourism, Mrs. Hannatu Musawa should send a memo to President Bola Tinubu to realize that with oil fading away, Nigerian music will become the next oil in the economic closet and do something about it. She can consult me for ideas.
Tony Amadi is a veteran journalist, author, culture and social critic.
