‘EMPAWA’!!Mr EAZI’s Gift to upcoming artists

 Mr Eazi. PHOTO | COURTESYUpcoming artists in Kenya and six other African countries now have an opportunity to showcase their  careers on an international platform .

Nigerian Afropop star and Africa’s most influential young artist Mr Eazi  has launched  a new initiative dubbed  ‘Empawa’ to uncover up-and-coming artistes, provide them with resources and exposure to launch their careers.

The self-described music entrepreneur knows all about rising to the very top of the music business. He is among a generation of Nigerian artists including Wizkid, Davido and Tekno who in the last five years have turned the spotlight on contemporary African music also referred to as Afrobeats.

Eazi has partnered with top artistes, producers and other music industry professionals, to equip the most promising talent with industry knowledge, contacts and funds to enable them achieve their full potential.

Empawa is open to artistes from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. Artists have until December 15 to post their videos singing either cover versions or original songs via Instagram using the hashtag ‘Empawa’.

These videos will be evaluated and assessed by Eazi and a team of music industry experts, producers, and artists, DJs and promoters, that he has selected from his network in the specific countries. About 100 artistes will then be picked to receive a grant of Sh300,000 to produce 100 music videos with a production crew across Africa.

Out of the 100 finalists, 10 will be selected to fly to South Africa for a three-week incubator programme led by Mr Eazi with English pop star Raye and renowned producer Diplo of Major Lazer. The 10 finalists will also record their music and shoot their videos with a professional film crew.

“Besides the producers working on the music, I will have lawyers teaching the artists about legal aspects of the music business and financial managers showing them how to turn the talent into a business,” says Eazi.

The very final list of two artistes will be selected from the 10 to perform at the 2019 edition of the annual ‘Ghana Party in the Park’ in the UK.

Eazi says his success in turning his love for music into a thriving enterprise should be an inspiration to any artiste who is enrolling for the programme.

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