Vanessa Obioha
To mark its recent presence in some African countries, including Nigeria, the global music streaming service Spotify launched the African Heat campaign which comprises series of partnerships, activations, a dance challenge video (#africanheatchallenge), and more creative content opportunities that will play out through on-and-off-platform initiatives on local, regional, and international levels.
Celebrating the power of African voices across the continent and beyond, the campaign features the African Heat playlist which highlights the diversity of African talent. The playlist is an explosion of Afro-centric sounds, carving out space for African creators to showcase their music to a global audience.
In a similar vein, the #africanheatchallenge focuses on the key role that the afro-dance community has played in spreading African pop music across the globe. African artists like Focalistic, Fuse ODG, Olamide, as well as some of the leading female faces of dance music in Africa – Moonchild Sanelly, Sho Madjozi, Niniola, and Amapiano’s Lady Du are featured.
In the recently released campaign video directed by South African filmmaker Zandi Tisani, groups of acclaimed and talented young dancers — like Nigeria’s Boluwatife, Ghana’s DWP Acade and South Africa’s Kamo Mpela— in Johannesburg, London, Lagos, Accra, and New York showcase a barrage of synchronized dance moves on rooftops, alleyways and roads as they dance to Focalistic’s hit ‘Ke Star’.
By including emerging and established artists alongside one another — Focalistic and Lady Du together with Azonto dance genre pioneer Fuse ODG and Shaku Shaku street dance driver, Olamide — Spotify is showcasing its dedication to and investment in all artists.
“The rich diversity of musical talent in Africa inspires and engages fans around the world. Spotify continues to use the power of its platform to amplify African voices across a global stage, building an ongoing narrative that supports and puts African creators at the forefront,” said Spotify Head of Music, Sub-Saharan Africa, Phiona Okumu.
These artists will also appear on large-scale Spotify billboards to promote African Heat in New York City and Toronto.
