ANNUAL REPORT: VOICE2REP PROJECT
(SEP 2018 – AUG 2019)
Introduction
The Voice 2 Rep project with funding from the Dutch Embassy is a first of its kind music competition searching for top upcoming WaZoBia-Pidgin English music artists who support greater representation, participation and accountability across Nigeria.
The goal of the project is to identify, support, and showcase young talented female rappers to increase civic awareness through music and to advocate for greater accountability, equality and democracy in Nigeria.
With funding from the Government of the Netherlands Embassy, The Voice2Rep project was implemented by Accountability Lab Nigeria in partnership with Chocolate City - one of the largest music platforms and entertainment companies on the African continent.
In order to give these artists a platform to make their voices heard, connect with socially-conscious leaders in the music industry, and build the skills they need to shape the future of Nigeria through music, the following activities were implemented:
Outreach
Accountability Lab conducted outreach through a network of volunteers and online to search for songs from young emerging musical artists across Nigeria. The theme of the 2018/2019 competition was elections/ democracy and good governance. A press conference was organized for the official launch of the Voice2Rep music competition and to generate public interest for the upcoming music competition. Over 30 people attended the conference and the following media outlets reported the launch of the Voice2Rep campaign:
1. The Cable - ‘Voice2Rep’ project to hold politicians accountable through music 2. Smash 9ja - MUST READ: An Opportunity to Be a Superstar: “Voice2Rep” & Chocolate City 3. Leadership - Accountability Lab Nigeria Seeks Engagement of Youths in Governance 4. TrendVill – Voice2Rep Competition
After the press conference, we had a social media outreach campaign geared towards getting young music artists to participate in the project by uploading a freestyle video of themselves singing or rapping to a socially conscious theme to either Facebook, Instagram or Twitter platform. The campaign reached over 10,000 young people within the ages of 18-35 years of age who are interested in music.
Selections
In a bid to find young first-time artistes, demos and video freestyle entries were submitted from across the country through the Voice 2 Represent online platforms (Emails, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and www.voice2rep.ng) The selection process began with a call for applications for young artists who have the talent and energy to use their voices for positive change. The Voice 2 Rep platform received a total of 366 entries with a gender breakdown of 334 (91.25%) males and 32 (8.75%) females ages of 18-35. The entries were screened by the Chocolate City Group team. The selection panel was comprised of a diverse selection of local music industry professionals, including M.I Abaga, CEO Chocolate City Music, Nkasiobi Chukwu, Head of Promotions department, and G-Plus Chang, Label Head, UpNorth Records. The selection process took place in 3 phases, selecting the top 50, 10 and 3. The first phase selected the top 50, who were chosen based on three criteria: content, creativity, and relevance to the Voice2Rep campaign.
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Chocolate City Music then produced a video on the selection process of the top 50, which was shared on social media and had a total of 1,814 views on Instagram and 2,101 views on YouTube (Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3).
The second phase selected the top 10 artists using twitter polls, phone interviews, and one wild card. Twitter users voted for their favorite finalists on polls conducted via the Chocolate City Music twitter handle. The finalists with the highest votes were selected. Each selected finalist then had a phone interview to gather information on the finalists’ thoughts about the Voice2Rep campaign and the motivation for their entry. The phone interview was conducted by Accountability Lab Nigeria’s in-house team to select the top 10 finalists. Lastly, one wild card selection was made to balance low entry turnout from female applicants and ensure equal gender representation.
The selected top 10 are:
SArtists Songs S/N
1 Celeste Weapon
2 Joel Prodigee Just so you know
3 Cill All You have got
4 Bliizzy My people
5 King Khavali Fire
6 Sharon Save Us
7 AfroLucy Ordinary men
8 MC Lauda Progress
9 Emkay Unity
10 Olajumoke Freedom
We collated and uploaded the 10 songs produced for the finalists to a soundcloud link and disseminated the link to
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fifteen random key stakeholders in the music sector and governance experts who rated the songs and scored them based on two major criteria namely the lyrical message and creative delivery using a google form. The end result of the process saw Adebanjo Boluwatife (Bliizzy), Celestina Ojatula (aka Celeste) and Joel Nwabuisi (Joel Prodigee) as the top 3 finalists.
Training
The top 10 Voice 2 Rep artists convened in Lagos State for a 10-day training where they were mentored on developing a music career, understanding good governance, and using their voices to promote good governance. The workshop sessions were facilitated by music industry experts from the private sector (M.I. Abaga of Chocolate City Music, Todalael Buki Kafang, Head of Music, Chocolate City Music, Tamunosaki Romeo, Entertainment Lawyer with Chocolate City Music, Oluwaseun Omilani, Head Digital Marketer and Social Media Manager, Kamara Bature, content manager for Chocolate City Music, Lola Kanye of Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)) and civil society leaders (Iyanuoluwa Bolarinwa, Manager at BudgIT, Damilola Ogundipe from BudgIT’s Civic Hive). Using the tools gained from the mentorship workshops, each Voice 2 Rep artist produced a song based around the social theme of elections and good governance. The artists shared that the training gave them a positive mindset and heightened interest in the issue of good governance. As a result, they were further inspired to use their voices as a tool for the transformation in Nigeria. The training assessment showed a 45% increase the artists’ base knowledge of accountability, good governance, democracy and elections. The ten songs produced were disseminated through social media accounts via @voice2rep on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and on a live performance at Bogobiri’s “Don’t Drop the Mic Challenge” in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The top 10 artists were also mentored by industry experts over a two-month period. 83.3% of the Voice 2 Rep artists reported the training and mentoring sessions were the most impactful of the program activities.
Additional mentoring was provided by Alternate Sounds and Don’t Drop the Mic (DDTM) to support the finalist’s music development.
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Photo Highlights from the Training and Mentoring Sessions
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Concerts and Performances
The National Concert
On February 3, Accountability Lab Nigeria, in conjunction with Chocolate City, OSIWA, and the Embassy of the Netherlands hosted the Choc Boyz Nation (CBN) tour. The purpose of the tour was to inform Nigerians of the importance of voting, accountability, and good governance. Voice 2 Rep artists performed their songs to over 1000 attendees. The concert was well timed as it aligned with the upcoming 2019 general elections. All the artists created their songs to address the state of the nation. The Tour’s star act, M.I. Abaga, made a special speech to the youth, informing them that 55% of registered voters were young people who had the power to change the country. In line with the theme of accountability, the concert ticket was free for anyone who registered and collected their permanent voter’s card. The concert provided Voice 2 Rep artists with the opportunity to gain valuable experience in a live performance setting, and showcase their talents to a wider audience. The sense of community was apparent, as the artists encouraged each other with spirited performances and raw exhibitions of lyrical craftsmanship. The event was covered by Reuters, and had over 49,000 views on Twitter.
Smaller Concerts To further use the top ten songs as a tool for national development, Voice 2 Rep artists had the opportunity to perform at 5 additional concerts:
● The Coronation: (Number of People in Attendance – Over 300)
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A Rap festival featuring mainstream musical acts like Ycee and underground veteran, and battle rappers Maximum and Holyfield. Our Voice2Rep finalists Adebanjo “Bliizzy” Boluwatife and Gbajumo “MC Lauda” Taiwo were featured at the Coronation IVs held at the Seven Seasons in Lekki, Lagos on the 26th of April, 2019.
● O’Live Concert: (Number of People in Attendance – Over 400)
The O’live concert was co-hosted by Accountability Lab on April 27, 2019, with featured sponsorship from top brands and media houses such as Showgear, Max FM, TVC Television station and Chocolate City Music. Voice 2 Rep artists Celeste’ Ojatula, Chioma ‘Cill Soul’ Ogbonna, and Arowolo ‘Sharon’ performed in front of an audience of over 400 people. A variety of young musicians have started to show interest Voice2Rep and socially conscious music.
● Bogobiri House Concert Series 1 & 2: (Number of People in Attendance – Over 200 for both events)
The Bogobiri House is home of Don’t Drop the Mic (DDTM) - an Urban Variety Show where artists create free- style songs and battle on the spot. On July 6th and 13th 2019, DDTM hosted five of the top ten finalists – Olajumoke, Bliizzy, King Khavali, MC Lauda and Joel Prodigee. The artists delivered an electrifying performance, thrilling audience members with their socially conscious themes. The series of concerts were teasers for the main event, slated for July 20, which featured all of the Voice2Rep finalists.
● Willis Give Dem Fest: (Number of People in Attendance – Over 900)
The Willis Give Dem Festival was a live concert that held on July 14th at Central Park in Abuja. The event was organized by popular young music producer, Yung Willis, and featured partnerships with Accountability Lab, Voice2Rep, as well as radio stations Cool FM 96.9 and Wazobia FM. Among the roster of over 20 performing artists, the 3 Voice2Rep finalists were featured at the concert. Celeste Ojatula, Adebanjo “Bliizzy” Boluwatife, and “Joel Prodigee” Nwabuisi gave well-received renditions of their #Voice2Rep songs on integrity and positive social change.
Voice2Rep was mentioned on the following media outlets: 1. Africa News: Nigerian musicians sing for election 2. The Guardian: As election nears, many young Nigerians skeptical of change 3. Naija News: Nigeria: Music and Youth Social Engagement 4. International Centre for Investigative Reporting: Integrity and the Nigeria 2019 general elections 5. Telquel: Les enjeux des prochaines élections présidentielles au Nigéria 6. Internazionale: In Nigeria i giovani sono esclusi dalla politica 7. Le Monde: Elections au Nigeria : la jeunesse en marge du jeu politique
Feedback we collected from some attendees at the concerts revealed excitement about the lyrical content that addresses contemporary issues in Nigeria with an emphasis on a demand for accountability and increasing social consciousness in young people.
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Photo Highlights from the Abuja National Concert
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Radio Shows Chocolate City organized three radio appearances Voice2Rep finalists on Nigerian Info 96.9 FM Lagos, City 105.1 FM Lagos, and Kiss 98.9 FM Lagos to play their songs and talk about the campaign. The radio appearances reached over 4 million people The BBC also expressed interest in the finalist’s songs, playing them during programmes. Additionally, through our unofficial partnership with Don’t Drop the Mic, they have been supporting the project through mentions across their radio programme weekly (Sundays and Fridays) as time permits.
Productions The top ten finalists had a song produced in their name and an additional three songs and videos for the top three finalists were professionally produced by Chocolate City. The 3 songs produced for the top three finalists are :
S/N ARTIST SONGS
1 Celeste Lie
2 Blizzy Dark Minds
3 Joel Prodigee All on you
Lastly, we produced two additional songs with the support of Chocolate City
- one of which was a theme song for the Voice2Rep project which featured all ten finalists and the legendary M.I. Abaga, and; - the second, a collaboration with M.I Abaga of Nigeria and Amaze of Liberia:
S/N ARTIST SONGS
1 Top 10 Finalists feat. M.I. Abaga In These Present Times
2 Amaze feat. M.I.Abaga Conscience
Coalition Building
The Voice2Rep project built a network among artists, mentors and other relevant stakeholders into a community of socially conscious musicians who can continue to use their voices to advocate for the change they would like to see with the aim of engaging the network in addressing collective critical challenges through the following series of events:
● Round Table Discussion (Stakeholders meeting)
Two stakeholder meetings were held on July 8 and 12, 2019 at the Freedom Park, Lagos and the Netherlands embassy. Guests included media personalities, deejays, photographers, film makers, CSOs, music producers, and Voice2Rep finalists, Cill, Joel Prodigee, Bliizzy, Olajumoke, King Khavali, and MC Lauda. Industry experts,
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Ademola Williams – founder RED Media, Onyekachi Nwagwu, Dapo Ayo-Adeusi of Chocolate City Music, Femi and Olajumoke Abirisala – founders of Don’t Drop the Mic (DDTM) were also in attendance to discuss the Voice2Rep project as a tool for national development.
Engagement/ Outreach in Schools and Universities Three school outreach efforts were made at Kingsville, College, University of Abuja, and the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) on July 19,, August 30, and August 31, 2019, respectively. Voice2Rep finalists had the opportunity to speak with students and encourage them to use their voice to hold government accountable, and to be active participants in the governance of their country. The winner of the July Voice2Rep monthly music challenge, Musa Bagudu “Xuchaponch” was joined by other talented artists in the freestyle challenge, where performed songs on the spot around socially conscious themes such as police brutality, violence against women, and mismanagement of public funds.
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Kingsville College, Abuja
University of Abuja:
Federal University of Technology, Akure:
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Meet the Voice2Rep Finalists Three meet the Finalists events were organized, two were radio appearances, and the other one was a listening party in Lagos. The radio appearances were hosted at Cool 96.9 FM and on the Don’t Drop the Mic (DDTM) radio show. The artists were interviewed on the Voice2Rep journey and the possibility of using music to affect national development.
The first listening party in Abuja on August 30, included n-air-personality, Big Mo and Adam Talsma, Regional Director of Reboot. Audience members listened and gave feedback on all 15 songs produced from the Rap2Rep project. Overall, the public was impressed by the talent level and creative abilities of the Rap2Rep artists and the messages of their songs, describing the event as a timely, considering the nation’s current political climate.
A Network of Rappers and Producers Voice2Rep has created a network of rappers and producers to support the project’s mission. Legendary Rapper, Jude “M.I” Abaga, Dapo Ayo-Adeusi, and Alternate Sounds who have all been part of the process to bolster the Top Ten Voice2Rep finalists.
Learnings
1. Equal gender representation: A low initial female entry rate indicates that deliberate effort toward prioritizing gender representation in program implementation is needed. The Voice 2 Rep project will target female music artists through our advert promotion female participation.
2. Streamline Submissions Platforms: Streamline the submission channel to only the online platform. This will allow Accountability Lab to collect additional information about the applicants.
3. The selected ten artists had little or no motivation to partake in the governance process. With exposure and engagement during the training, the artists became more aware of the contextual issues in governance. For example, one of the artists mentioned: I did not know I can ask questions and hold government accountable.
4. The Music industry is business oriented, therefore, young artists put more focus on financial gains. However, with consultations in the music industry stakeholders, we have agreed to put the songs on digital platforms where the songs can be streamed, thereby generating revenue to support the artists.
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5. To keep the engagement with young music artists nationwide, we initiated the Voice2Rep Monthly Music challenge and this has produced good traction on social media with the hashtag Voice2Rep (#Voice2Rep). This has seen young music artists submit videos of themselves singing/ rapping socially conscious themes around governance. Here are the winners May 2019, June 2019, July 2019, and August 2019. The #Voice2Rep has had over 30,000 video views on social media.
Challenges 1. The use of multiple submission channels made entry collation very demanding as those received from WhatsApp, email and social media didn’t come with details like sex, location, music genre, age etc. This caused extra work for the Accountability Lab team, that had to reach out to applicants requesting further information to aid the documentation and reporting process. Based on this learning, the website’s platform has been determined to be the best channel for the submission of future applications as it collates the required information.
2. Low number of female entries (8%) causing Accountability Lab to change the premise of the project by using a wild card selection to ensure gender equality.
3. Some of the Voice2Rep artist displayed some unpleasant behaviors which affected engaging them for concerts they were assigned to. For example, one of the artists who was on the initial selected top three, during the production phase, requested her preferred producer, while another went to the studio to do her own personal song (not in line with the #Voice2rep objective).
4. Poor representation for Northern Nigeria.
5. Our partnership with Chocolate City also affected the timeline for the execution of some activities within the project. Also, some of the concerts scheduled to take place in Jos and Enugu could not hold because of technical issues and logistics. One of which was restructuring to Chocolate City Group as a result of their partnership with Warner Music UK.
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