The Leading Vibe Initiative (LVI), founded by two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning artist Tems, successfully concluded the first edition of its in-person programming in Lagos on August 8–9, 2025.
Backed by global partners Hennessy and Native Instruments, the two-day activation brought together 20 young women in music from across Nigeria, including producers, artists, and songwriters for a hands-on, high-impact experience, focused on creative collaboration, industry mentorship, and professional development.
Held across Amah Studios and GAIA Lagos, the Lagos edition marked a powerful beginning for LVI’s mission to build a multi-country network that empowers African women in music to lead, create, and thrive.
Day One – August 8
The program opened with an intimate welcome dinner hosted by Tems, bringing together the 20 selected participants for the first time. In a personal address, Tems spoke candidly about the experiences that led her to create the Leading Vibe Initiative, and why investing in women in music is both urgent and necessary.
“When I started out as an artist, I had to teach myself everything, from production to navigating the music industry. Today, I’m fortunate to have a team that shares my vision, but I know my story isn’t unique. There are many women with the same drive and potential, but without access to the right tools or network. That is why I started The Leading Vibe Initiative. Seeing the first group come together in Lagos, support each other, and grow through the experience, reminded me exactly why this matters. We’re building pathways for women to lead, thrive, and take up space across the global music industry.” – Tems
Day Two – August 9
The second day featured a full slate of workshops, panels, and breakout sessions across three core tracks: artist performance, songwriting, and music production.
The day opened with “The Power Behind the Vision”, a conversation on long-term strategy, image, and team building. Moderated by Lola Ige (Head of Marketing, Sony Music West Africa), the panel featured Dunsin Wright (acclaimed image architect)and Muyiwa Awoniyi (talent manager to Grammy-winning artists).
Participants then rotated through focused masterclasses led by Wale Davies (Head of A&R at Sony Music Publishing), Sarah Lorentzen (Senior Director of A&R, RCA Records), Saszy Afroshii (leading Nigerian music producer), Yimeeka (multidisciplinary sound designer and artist), and Joyce Olong (acclaimed singer-songwriter and vocal coach).
Native Instruments also delivered a dedicated session introducing participants to a custom demo software Izotope created for the program, reinforcing its commitment to breaking down technical barriers for women in music.
The final panel, “If I Could Tell Her”, featured Bloody Civilian (genre-defying artist-producer), Sasha P (pioneering rapper and founder of Purple Fire Entertainment), and Saszy (music producer) in conversation with Chinasa Anukam, host of Is This Seat Taken?. The discussion explored creative autonomy, authenticity, and visibility as women in music.
The day concluded with a fireside chat between the initiative’s founder, Tems, and initiative advisor Tsehaitu “Tubi” Retta, followed by a closing reception hosted by lead sponsor Hennessy, celebrating a successful close to the inaugural Lagos edition.
The Leading Vibe Initiative heads to Kenya for the next chapter of its multi-country programming. With each stop, LVI builds toward a pan-African ecosystem where women in music are seen, heard, and equipped to lead—with the tools, network, and support they need to thrive.
Applications for the Kenya edition open on August 11th, at leadingvibe.com
Friday has become the de-facto release day in the music industry, and a plethora of tracks vie to become the soundtrack of that weekend and beyond. Sifting through it all every Friday morning can be overwhelming for many listeners, so every week we compile some highlights.
The rise of Big Tems knows no bounds. She continues to expand the depth of her horizons with more global wins, with the announcement of her new track which will be featured on the new Black Panther — Wakanda Forever movie soundtrack. The soon-to-be global superstar is featured singing the popular Bob Marley track “No Woman, No Cry”. Phyno’s back returns with the hit-making Tekno whose known for cheffing up hits, they both do their thing on the new track “Full Current.”
Elsewhere, Jae5 taps British Dave and the Nigerian singer Bnxn, to create another boisterous track titled — “Propeller.” As Azanti’s “Getting Hot,” it is the title of his newest single. Chocolate City’s music has another wonderful signee whose potential is intact. He unloads his versed debut extended play and it is titled “Son Of The Moon.”
This week’s notable releases include songs from DJ Tunez feat AV, Detoblack feat ColorsxStudios, Soundz, Inert feat. PsychoYP, DJ Tunez feat. Wander Coal & Victory, and more.
One of the few forward-looking sectors in Africa today, absorbing the continent’s darker and unjust realities in the shadows are its creative and entertainment sectors which have helped bolstered incredible levels of growth over the past couple of years. Like a handful of other industries present, the creative economy is still in the growth phase, slowly wielding a strong infrastructure capable of handling the thrust into the future.
More governments are starting to acknowledge the relevance of these informal sectors gradually opening doors for their inclusion in national economic and development plans. On top of improved financial backgrounds, Africa’s expanding digital economy positions the creative industries for success, particularly amongst its growing young and urban populations. More foundational basic and digital infrastructure needs to be put in place to support Africa’s dreamers so their dreams can take shape.
Music, film, fashion, art, and sub-industries like gaming are particularly well-positioned for investments benefit directly from both Africa’s expanding digital economy and consumer post-pandemic.
Facebook, in partnership with China Mobile International, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange and Vodafone, are building a new subsea cable that when activated come 2023-24, will deliver more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables serving Africa today.
In Nigeria, the film industry has matured from a high quantity, low cost model to one where producers are now able to raise capital to produce films on par with their global peers. Nollywood, accounted for $7.2bn or 1.42 percent of Nigeria’s GDP in 2016, and South Africa’s music industry is estimated to hit $178m in revenue in 2020. In 2019, only 1.1% or $22M of total African start-up investment went to entertainment companies. In September 2018, Netflix acquired its first original Nollywood film, Lionheart which premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, and this year released its first two original African TV-series (both South African based), ‘Queen Soto’ and ‘Blood and Water’.
Emerging markets are fuelling the 13.3% year-over-year growth as a result of the popularity of mobile gaming, low cost to play, and a simpler development process than many console games. Prior to the pandemic, PwC predicted Africa’s two largest gaming markets, South Africa and Nigeria would grow 13.2% and 22.9% respectively.
Africa’s data costs have gradually been decreasing, allowing creatives to connect themselves with their audience through streaming platforms, NFT, social media, and many more. Africa’s creative industries have the potential to not only become bounty investments but can also contribute to solving Africa’s job creation and youth unemployment challenges.
We’ve highlighted a few creatives doing exciting work and utilizing the internet as a powerful tool to fuel their ideas.
Richmond Ekow Barnes
Fashion writer, model and creative producer, Richmond Ekow Barnes has been one of the most exciting young creatives out of Ghana. Ekow Barnes specializes in fashion writing and producing content for brands and platforms interested in engaging with the African youth. His portfolio boasts of a wide range of brands and campaigns, where he served in different operational capacities.
Richmond Ekow Barnes
Some of his clients include Mercedez-Benz, Emirates, Uber, Essence, Glamour Magazine, CNN, GQ, Facebook, and many more. He is also one of the most sought-after models from Ghana, being signed to the prestigious 20 Model Management
“My focus is on pushing emerging talents and showing their works to the rest of the world. I love to write and also producing authentic stories.”
He’s had an amazing 2021, the year that cemented him as one of the hottest creatives in West Africa.
At the start of the year, one of West Africa’s biggest record labels Mavin hit the ground running with two new signees; one of them was 19-year-old Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe who many know as Ayra Starr. Born in Cotonou, Ayra Starr began a fashion career at the age of 16 with Quove Model Management before deciding to pursue music. After covering several songs by popular artists on Instagram, she posted her first original song on her page in December 2019. This brought her to the attention of record executive Don Jazzy, and led to her signing to Mavin Records.
The delectable celestial being as she refers to herself is a singer, songwriter, and model who’s made a strong statement following her introduction into the male-dominated industry in just a couple of months. With two mainstream and chart-topping projects with hits, her eponymous debut EP and its lead single “Away” which peaked at number four on Nigeria’s TurnTable Top 50 and number 17 on US Billboard Top Triller Global, has paved the way for the release of her first full-length studio album, 19 & Dangerous in August 2021. Preceded by the single “Bloody Samaritan”, the album has been met with favorable critical reception and newer chart milestones.
Isabel Okoro is a 20-year-old photographer and trailblazer whose projects have fueled conversations and cultural relevance within a relatively short time. Okoro’s work visualizes an imagined world and eternity, as a space to immortalize family, friends and those she meets along the way. Her governing photographic thesis is predicated on the creation of a Black utopia; a world free of the anxiety, violence, and oppression experienced by those of the African diaspora.
Isabel Okoro
Her warm, natural but very intimate images have earned her remarkable features on i-D Magazine, The Face, WePresent by WeTransfer, Nataal Magazine, and Der Greif Magazine. Her growth is undeniably inspiring to watch.
Korty is currently one of the buzziest creatives in the Lagos scene. She credits being a graphic designer, model, artist, filmmaker, and her most recent job as an indie YouTuber. Her storytelling process combines an honest and frank approach to her filming, combined with her engaging shots and use of her natural environment, an unhinged passion, and a relatable personality, Korty has become one of Nigeria’s most sought after Youtubers.
Before making her break into the world of Youtube, she worked at Zikoko as an assistant video producer before going on to work at emPawa Africa as head of content production.
“My goal is just to get people to see that there is a bit of you in everybody, so don’t judge people. In Nigeria, there is so much going on, and for people to pull through and find something that makes them happy and keeps them going is commendable. I really want to try and portray that as much as I can. If I was in the UK, the narrative would be different, but this is my reality, so this is what I am trying to show.”
Korty shared in an interview.
Tems
You can’t talk about the music scene in Africa right now and not mention BIG TEMS who’s definitely having one of the biggest years since the history of ‘Africa to the world’ breakouts. Tems recently hit the mark as the most-streamed Nigerian artist on Spotify with over 14 million monthly listeners. Being on the hit record with Wizkid that later got a remix with American pop giant Justin Bieber, her appearance on Drake’s new album and her new project which debuted in the top 20 Apple Music charts, it’s obvious TEMS is the next biggest thing from the continent.
Her rich, deep-toned vocals have stood her out in a global music space rife with unending talents. We can’t wait to see what she has in store for the rest of the year as she tours the U.K and the United States.
Ruby Okoro
Ruby Okoro is a promising visual artist who’s been on the rise with each project released throughout the year thus, cementing his name as one to watch out for. The self-taught filmmaker, graphic designer, and photographer first explored his love of vibrant color and grand composition in his painting. He started to take photographs with his Canon 650D resulting in arrangements of closely studied solitary figures in huge red sun-lit skies, black oil seas, or landscapes of natural textures such as sand or giant purple plants.
Ruby’s work is centered around his fascination for the skin of the people he sees around him in the streets of Lagos, who he then transposes to exquisitely composed almost hyper-real scenes. His work becomes a juxtaposition of the ordinary, filled with vibrant colors and textures combined with his eye for composition and editing skills, the resulting work is stunning and almost hyper-real.
The most appealing thing is the ability to exercise my imagination as a multidimensional artist through conceptual, aesthetic and vibrant photography. These images highlight different moods through my lens while remaining composed. This way my audience gets a vivid look and your perception about the obvious transforms. More like an untold story.
If you’re a big fan of the rap subgenre ‘Drill’ then you definitely know about the ‘Kumerica’, a tag used to describe a new wave of Ghanian rappers from Kumasi using ‘Drill Melodies’ as their own way of connecting and expressing themselves. Thorsten Owusu Gyimah popularly known as Yaw Tog has been the biggest name to blow out of this freshly minted scene. He is best known for his viral song ‘Sore’ which features O`Kenneth, City Boy, Reggie & Jay Bahd, and also Kwesi Arthur and Stormzy on the remix.
Wale Oloworekende
Wale is an interesting and exciting culture journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria covering music, youth, and football. His work has appeared on BellaNaija, The Republic, OkayAfrica, Culture Custodian, Red Bull, Guardian UK, Complex, The FACE, and Dazed Digital.
This month, @walenchi0's African music column is led by the deluxe version of @wizkidayo’s #MadeInLagos. It also spotlights the new album by Ghanaian icon @sarkodie and elsewhere, an enchanting debut by DMW singer, #Liya. Dig in.https://t.co/rgc6fJnrQ4
His brilliance comes in his ability to craft narratives with impactful storytelling and nuance for little details that help takes you a little deeper into his stories.
LLNB
LADDER, LEX & BOOKER is a Lagos-based production company discovering and empowering the next generation of exceptional African filmmakers. The startup is led ed by the trio of brothers. The production house is known for taking on films, videos, ads, and creative projects but with youthful and unorthodox twists that always bring you coming back to their work.
They’ve had an exception last few years with 2021 helping stake their claim as one of the hottest productions houses to work within Lagos.
Buju
Buju or Bujutoyourears is a Nigerian Afro-fusion singer, songwriter, and record producer who was formerly signed to Burnaboy’s Spaceship imprint. He has been having a meteoric rise this year with his exceptional run of features and his own single ‘Outside’ which has proven to naysayers that he’s here to stay and can definitely be a star in his own right.
Buju has basically not missed this year, and with his highly acclaimed debut project on the way, we can only look forward to more music from the rising star.
Patrick Arinzechukwu
Arinzechukwu Patrick is a writer and visual artist, founder of Random Photo Journal is a public record, a study of the daily lives of people in their natural habitat, a visual explanation of our immediate environment as well as being one of the faces of Ghana’s skate crew Surf Ghana.
His work revolves around the studies of the social ecology of neighborhoods and living conditions, color theory, visual storytelling, and curation focused on African unification through collective memories and unique connections. Based in Ghana and Nigeria, his art reflects a duality of two nations so similar but yet so uniquely different.
Blessing Ewona is a model, skateboarder, and leader of Dencity— a community of skaters across Nigeria creating a safe space for girls and queer people to learn and grow together.
Since April of this year, Dencity — a name inspired by Blessing’s own middle name, Eden — has been holding skate sessions every Saturday in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. Dencity sessions happen over at National Stadium–which is home to most skaters, rollerblades, and BMX bikers in Lagos.
Skaters in Abuja meet in a couple of places, but mainly at their own National Stadium, and in Port Harcourt, the girls get together at Uniport Arena on Wednesdays and the Pleasure Park parking lot on Thursdays.
Without much information on him/her/they? Z4 has been one of the most interesting 3D artists taking advantage of the rising interests in NFT with a few of his projects doing well in the NFT space. The work centers on depicting basic human emotions through curated visual journeys.
Cosmas and Nez have become one of the styling, creative, and fashion design team duos to watch. Together under their creative studio ‘headb0rn Studios’ they’ve taken on some of the year’s intriguing projects with their dauntless approach to style and clothing.
They’ve worked on a few projects this year and we can only hope they have more cooking in the vault. The duo also form 2/3 that run fashion brand Pith Africa.
It’s go time for Big Tems, her new single “Crazy Ting” gives us a glimpse into her perspective of the amazing series of events happening to her, from “Essence” to “Fountains” and everything in between. L.A.X‘s “Faster” is a banger headed straight for the clubs and the functions, you heard it here first. We got an Odunsi verse on the new Killertunes song “Do Me,” DJ Java enlisted Remy Baggins & Psycho YP on the Amapiano bop “Jazz Up.” We also got new releases from Skales, Laime, Curtis J, Niinety9, and Zubi.
Friday has become the de-facto release day in the music industry, a plethora of tracks vie to become the soundtrack of that weekend and beyond. Sifting through it all every Friday morning can be overwhelming for many listeners, so every week we compile some highlights.
This video couldn’t come at a better time, right now we’ve been fiending for some Tems content, and Mannywellz supplied us with the goods on the video for his soulful track “Peace” featuring Tems. The visuals are set on a serene location where both artists sing their hearts out, one cool detail is the contrasting colors in styling, Mannywellz wears white and Tems wears black, which could be a reference to the peaceful Eastern ideology of Yin & Yang.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a year, what was meant to be a luminous start to a new decade with promise of innovation, and positive change became characterised by the COVID-19 pandemic. Every industry had to adapt to the socially distanced, mask-clad world that currently is.
Amidst the dismay, many Nigerians exhibited the tenacity to rise to the task of an unprecedented year. 2020 saw a lot of inspiring individuals take charge, innovate, inspire, protest, create, and bear the leading light in a valley of darkness.
The More Branches Editorial team is piloting the inaugural 20 Trailblazers of the Year list dedicated to highlighting various minds breaking boundaries in culture, technology, and creative endeavours.
This year’s list features creatives from Daniel Obasi, Telz, Niyi Okeowo, to activists; Feyikemi Abudu, Rinu Oduala, Matthew Blaise, and tech innovators, Odunayo Eweniyi, Ezra Olubi, etc, arranged in no particular order. Explore the list below.
Stephen Tayo
According to INDIE, Stephen Tayo is the Lagos photographer “telling it like it is”. Born in Ekiti state and having spent most of his life in Lagos, he is inspired to tell candid Nigerian stories. His art is sharp and culturally inclined, a testament to the deeply passionate artist behind the lenses. “My inspiration is from understanding my roots,” he told DAZED.
The Unilag graduate’s portfolio is replete with high beauty and he confesses that his bias to create children’s portraits was born out of his inability to find pictures of himself when he was 3-5 years old. Tayo has taken his vision of Lagos to the world, having collaborated with the likes of The New York Times, shooting festival style for Dazed, street style for Vogue and INDIE. He’s currently documenting Lagos’s drag subculture.
Oxlade
Ikuforiji Olaitan AbdulRahman also known as Oxlade is one of the biggest revelations of the Nigerian music industry in 2020. His alluring vocals and smooth delivery drew a multitude of fans to his corner. His single, Away, from his OXYGENE EP became an instant fan favourite upon release, dominated the airwaves, and is one of the most critically acclaimed bodies of works this year.
For his exploits, he has been nominated in the Next Rated category of the Headies Award. In an interview with Okayafrica, he spoke about the sort of legacy he would like to leave behind “An audacious one. I want to be known as the biggest Afrobeats act worldwide. I want fans from all around the world.”
Korede Ogundiya
Korede Ogundiya is a publisher, techpreneur, and co-founder of MoreBranches. He previously served as Journalist Public Relations at the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria. His writings explore the subject of technology, politics, culture, music, gender, and African development.
For my new feature on @engineer_sports, I spoke to @TeniEntertainer exactly a week before the Lekki Massacre — about her love for basketball, forthcoming album XXXLife and Police brutality in Nigeria.
In 2015, he co-founded Jangilova, a platform that was designed to connect people wanting to watch TV or play video games with people who were willing to play host to them. In 2017, he started More Branches with Adedayo Laketu. More Branches has grown into one of the biggest publications for young Nigerians, often called the ‘Vice of Africa’, no topics are off-limits.
He led the reportage of the EndSARS protests by More Branches to create the necessary awareness and authentic reporting that legacy Nigerian media lacks. His recent work as a digital project lead on FUJI: A Opera was key in reimagining an indigenous genre for a new generation.
Daniel Obasi
Daniel Obasi is a multi-talented artist who combines the use of film, photography and fashion. He has worked with several international platforms, shooting portraits for The New York Times and Billboard, and styling fashion editorials for Vogue Portugal and Dazed. He worked with Beyoncé on the acclaimed Black is King visual album where he styled Lagos futurism.
Daniel is passionate about Africans telling African stories.
“My work has always been about the fact that (African) stories are best told by Africans. We all have different experiences, but in all that diversity and under that difference, we still have things that connect all of us” He told CNN.
Growing up, he was obsessed with fantasy stories and magic and this is what informs the 26-year-old’s creative impulse. His works explore gender, sexuality and identity, and show a mix of feminine and masculine elements. On October 28, 2020, Daniel Obasi was awarded the Future Awards Africa Prize for Fashion in an online event.
Tems
Tems sings about freedom and pain. Her EP, For Broken Ears, a testament to the artistry of the 25-year-old, has enjoyed deserved success since its release in September 2020. Her first single, Mr Rebel, for which she gained two Headies nominations serve as a template for her track in the music industry — nonconforming, outspoken & self-assured.
Her self-produced songs are characterized by her high pitched vocals which set her apart. Tems’ earliest memory of songwriting was when she was six, and, now, nineteen years later, she is the primary chieftain of the Rebel gang, her cult of loyal fans cheering her on as she surfs through a male-dominated industry.
She was recently nominated for the Next Rated award by the Headies, a deeply competitive category that includes Omah Lay, Oxlade and Bella Shmurda. Her feature song with Wizkid, Essence, is one of Barack Obama’s favourite songs of 2020.
Nana-Aisha Salaudeen.
Nana-Aisha Salaudeen is a Lagos-based CNN journalist and multi-platform producer who covers business and development stories. She’s primarily interested in underreported human interest stories within Africa because “these stories provide depth and scope on people and things, and their emotions.” Salaudeen claims to have “stumbled into journalism” but her stories are soaked in unmistakable passion. In October 2020, she was awarded the Future Awards Africa Prize for Journalism.
In August 2020, she was featured in British Vogue as one of the 50 trailblazers from across the globe. In her statement she said;
“I’m hopeful for a woman-centred society. I genuinely believe we can make room for women to excel in different spaces. It’s deeply personal for me because I know what it’s like to be a minority in a male-dominated society. Think about the political spaces on the [African] continent, and even in the world — they are filled with a majority of men.”
Nelson C.J
Nelson C.J is a writer and culture journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria. The bulk of his work leans towards his queer realities. In January 2020, Nelson, then a teenager, appeared in The New York Times with a piece that interrogated queer struggles in organized religion, drawing from personal experiences.
“I was subjected to conversion therapy after my family found messages I’d shared with my partner at the time, and it left me physically and emotionally scarred in ways I am still processing four years later. I stopped actively participating in my church’s youth activities because it seemed dishonest and impossible for me to reject who I am and worship God at the same time. Prayer was used against my sexuality, and my personhood” He wrote.
For @Dazed I spoke to some young Nigerians on how their relationship with style has changed post the #EndSARS protests. We talked about everything from trying out new hairstyles to reclaiming their power of expression + how the movement made that happen.https://t.co/ttDS1yoqnn
Nelson’s writing is lucid and the angle from which he discusses his point is usually fresh. He has gone on to contribute to other international publications such as The Independent, i-D, Teen Vogue, Digital Spy, Dazed and others.
Omah Lay
Omah Lay is a Nigerian songwriter, music producer and recording artist born in Port Harcourt. He is one of the breakout acts of the year 2020 with two EPs, Get Layd & What Have We Done, and viral songs like Bad Influence. His sound is unusual and reaching in a soothing manner. The Native Mag says “Omah’s vocal delivery, varied as it may be, breathes life and emotion into his records, regardless of the genre he finds himself making, whether it’s a dance-ready number or a Hip-Hop”.
Having written songs for other artists without getting credit, he decided to do something of his own. He recorded Do not disturb and later Hello brother, a lo-fi tune that speaks to brotherhood. When he released his first EP, four out of the five songs stayed on the top four spots on the Nigerian Apple Music charts.
For the 2020 Headies, he has been nominated under four categories; Next rated award in the assorted company of Tems, Oxlade and Bella Shmurda, Best R&B Single, and Songwriter Of The Year, for Bad influence, and Headies’ Viewer’s Choice. He was nominated for the Future Awards Africa Prize in Music.
Ezra Olubi
Ezra Olubi is the CTO and co-founder of Paystack, a tech startup that provides a quick way to integrate payment services into an online or offline transaction by way of an API. In October, Paystack announced a $200 million acquisition by American payments company Stripe. Paystack’s customers include small businesses, larger corporations, and educational institutions. Ezra’s androgynous style sets him apart and his success challenges the many negative stereotypes faced by androgynous men.
Odunayo Eweniyi
Odunayo Eweniyi is the co-founder/COO of Piggyvest, a fintech company that helps over 1 million users achieve their financial goals by helping them save and earn interest without complications. A “self-professed pessimist,” her penchant to learn and evolve may be her superpower. In an interview with Techcabal she said; “If I need to be X company’s COO, best believe I will learn everything I need to be that company’s COO. I don’t have a lot of life philosophies but one of them is to do your absolute best in ANYTHING you’re doing. Anything at all.”
Odunayo is a key member of The Feminist Coalition who raised almost $388,000 in two weeks to support the EndSARS protests. She was included in 2020’s The Bloomberg 50, a list that honors people who are changing the global business landscape.
Rinu Oduala
Rinu Oduala is a brand strategist and advocate, who was at the vanguard of the EndSARS protests. She banked on her sizable social media influence to inspire people to take part. On the 7th of October, she, along with some other Nigerian youths set camp outside the Lagos governor’s office to demand better governance. What fuels her is her first-hand witness of police brutality.
Zimbabwe's first female jet fighter pilot, Niger's first scientist to work for NASA and a 2-time Guinness world record holder: these are just some of Africa's influential women of 2020!
The 22-year-old has an unquenching thirst for positive change. Rinu has led and participated in impactful campaigns even before the EndSARS protests. She is the convener of Operation Sanitise, a movement that spread across several cities in Nigeria, distributing up to 20,000 hand sanitizers during the thick of the pandemic. In June, she led a protest against rape alongside twelve of her friends after the murder of Tina Ezekwe in Lagos and Uwavera Omozuwa in Benin. She was selected to be a member of the Lagos State Judicial inquiry looking into cases of police brutality and extra Judicial killings.
Niyi Okeowo
Niyi Okeowo is a multidisciplinary art director and photographer based in Lagos, Nigeria. He has 8 years of experience and his focus lies in art direction, graphics design, 3D, animation, branding and photography. Niyi heavily experiments with strong colours and has worked with numerous established brands and startups to create experiences, identities, and visuals. He has previously collaborated with Gtbank, Fidelity Bank, Paystack, LVMH, Hans and Rene, Smirnoff and others.
As an art director, his work consists of unique visual interpretations. Working with YBNL’s Fireboy DML on Apollo, he said “We played around a lot of ideas. Like how “ELI” is about a girl who’s dangerous for him but he keeps going back to her. That’s why the artwork is about a woman and you can see that she’s wrapped by a snake and there’s that scorpion on her arm to represent danger.”
my second studio album, Apollo. this was bound to happen. gratitude to God for blessings. gratitude to everyone who worked with me on this album; gratitude to my team (YBNL/Empire), my family and the kings who blessed this project with their presence. see you on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/ZcBEjWyAug
Feyikemi Abudu is the winner of Her Network’s 2020 woman of the year award for speaking up for positive change. A business developer and member of the Feminist Coalition, FK, like many Nigerians could not have envisaged that there would be a youth uprising in a pandemic year. She became the uncommissioned marshal of the movement due to her frontline involvement.
She was involved in efficiently raising & disbursing funds used for refreshment and logistics, coordinated legal and medical volunteers and leveraged on her expansive network and family influence in places where normal procedures failed to work. At some point, she set her personal engagements aside to cater for protest duties. Her deep rootedness earned her titles, the most prominent being ‘President FK’.
Speaking to Techcabal, she credits her family and upbringing for her courage saying “All the women in my family are coconut heads. They are accomplished women who don’t answer to anybody. You can imagine all of us sitting at a table.” She continued; “I think that’s where [my audacity] is from. If you come for family lunch, first of all, you’ll hear us from outside. And when you get inside, everybody has a strong opinion about something.”
Toyosi Diya
Toyosi Diya is a Nigerian model based in Lagos state where he is a student of the University of Lagos. He has modelled for Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Hugo Boss, Zegna, Others. He began modelling in 2017 when he participated in the ELITE MODEL LOOK competition after which he got signed into his first modelling agency, My Booker Model Management. Since then, he has worked with other agencies in London, Milan, Paris, New York, and Spain.
Matthew Blaise is a non-binary, openly queer Nigerian and an LGBTQ rights activist living in Lagos. They are currently studying English and literary studies at a Federal University in Nigeria. They have always been an outspoken activist, and so, when the EndSARS protests began, they joined the tens of thousands of Nigerian youths to demand better policing and to ask for protection of queer rights.
On Out, they wrote about a video of them which has now attracted over three million views on Instagram:
“I don’t really care what people think of my video. There is a revolution happening. And in a revolution, we don’t care what our oppressors care or think. In this I refuse to center them, as they already are centered.”
They are the winner of the SOGIESC Rights activist of the year award for 2020. They are also a 2020 Women Deliver Young fellow.
Seyitan Atigarin
Seyitan Atingarin, who gracefully combines fashion with media, is an award-winning TV Presenter, Producer, Entertainment correspondent & Reporter at Arise TV where she anchors the morning show. She holds an M.A in international broadcast journalism from Birmingham City University. In the past, she has worked at UBA’s REDTV, hosting ‘The Sauce’ an entertainment and lifestyle show, and the platforms’ red carpet show ‘Red on Red’.
She is the creative director of ABÈBÍBYTAN, a clothing line which she founded in 2017. She has hosted some top events that include the SME 100 Nigeria’s 25 Under 25 Awards, The Lord of Ribs Comedy Festival (Red Carpet), Shop Talk Conference, Nigeria Entrepreneurs Awards. She co-hosted the 2020 Arise Fashion Week.
TG Omori
TG Omori is a Nigerian music video director and cinematographer working out of Lagos. He is responsible for some of the most audacious music videos on television. He has worked with recording artists including Olamide, Wizkid, Burna Boy, D’banj, Kiss Daniel, Fireboy DML, Falz, Timaya, Naira Marley, and many others. Naira Marley’s controversial “Am I Yahoo Boy” was his breakout video.
Drawing inspiration from the legendary Tunde Kelani, he is arguably the hottest video director in the music industry at present. In 2019, the self-taught director was responsible for about half of the videos on the summer 2019 charts countdown on MTV, Soundcity, and Trace. In the same year, he won video director of the year at City People Entertainment Awards and directed two videos in top 10 most viewed Nigerian music videos. He has been nominated for the ‘Best Music Video’ category at the 2020 Headies Award.
Telz
Alli Odunayo AKA Telz is a Grammy-nominated music producer. He is the other half of The Spaceship Collective producers alongside LeriQ. The 23-year-old was a lead producer on Burna Boy’s Twice as Tall album. Telz has a knack for hits and has collaborated with artists such as Patoranking with whom he made the smash hit, Abule. His genius is also behind Prettyboy D-O’s collaboration with Olamide on Wetin You Smoke.
His producer tag, “Funkula” became a contested topic as listeners debate on whether it’s ‘Porn killer,’ ‘Fun killer’, ‘Born Killer’, etc. Telz appears to enjoy the confusion.
“It’s controversial; everyone wants to know what it is and argue about what they think it is. However, I did it on purpose because I’m trying to sell the tag and it’s really working because “Funkula” is becoming a household name” He told The Guardian.
Taaooma
Maryam Apaokagi has established herself as the go-to comic act on the web. With about 1.6 million followers on Instagram, she has cemented her place as one of Nigeria’s foremost entertainers. What sets Taooma apart is the relatable content she puts out. She started out with just two characters, Taooma and Mama Taaoo, a depiction of an African mother who doles out slaps to her daughter at the slightest provocations. Now, she has more characters, splitting herself into different acts that include Baba Taaoo and Taaoo’s brother, Tayo.
She won Best Online Comedian of the Year at the Gage Awards last year and in 2020, she was nominated for the Future Awards Africa Prize for Content Creation. Of her art, she told Folio: “Education is important. I don’t do comedy for just laughs. I pass messages. I put all other things as a way to make people laugh, no matter how exaggerated I make it.”
Faith Oluwajimi
Faith Oluwajimi is the creative director at Bloke, a genderless artisanal label introducing a distinct notion of luxury through Quirky and Artsy design aesthetic, enveloped with an undertone of spiritual consciousness. He started his fashion journey in 2011 while studying agriculture at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB). In 2015, Faith founded Bloke in Lagos to create well thought out garments and objects for performative functions and collectable purposes. He began to experiment with knitwear at a time when there were a limited number of people exploring it.
In 2016, Vogue Italia declared him no 34 of 200 emerging talent brands to watch and in 2018, Oluwajimi’s first runway show debuted at Lagos Fashion Week where he was a fashion focus finalist. In October 2018, he won the inaugural Emerge ALÁRA award. In April 2019, The label became a recipient of the Lagos Fashion Week Fashion Focus 2019 Fund. In November 2020, Bloke was selected as an Arise Fashion Week 30 under 30 finalist to showcase their SS21 offering which was highlighted by L’Officiel USA as one of the top 10 African designers shaping global fashion. Also in 2020, Faith was nominated for the Future Awards Africa Prize in Fashion.
Alte sonic leader & producer Odunsi The Engine has been
rather quiet for most of the year, surfacing only to reveal new fashion
directions and a more recent loose release on his SoundCloud, ‘Stayin’ Low’.
While fans relentlessly clamoured for the release of his Maison2500 collab,
‘Wicked, Sexy!’, the singer opted instead for a surprising Tems feature,
‘Decided’.
The tastefully succinct, melancholic track finds the artists
in a state of introspection – one we can all relate to amid the ongoing
Coronavirus lockdown. Thriving on a plane of self- reflection, Odunsi
highlights his strained relationship with his father, ‘Never knew my dad, never understood/He’s been in my life, but never in
the loop’. Over a syncopated beat, the pair create a neo-soul gem, urging
the listener to ‘go deeper’ within. ‘Decided’ showcases Odunsi in his most
vulnerable state yet and if there ever was an artist to assist portrayal of
this pensive mood, he’s made an ample choice in electric singer Tems, whose
piercing vocals give the song the right amount of emotion needed.
