The impact and longevity of Tiwa Savage’s musical career is worth celebrating and applauding. However, it should not be viewed as a ‘saving grace’, which dilutes the collective disregard that the Nigerian music industry displays towards the milestones achieved by its women artists. Against the backdrop of a misogynistic society, Tiwa Savage’s long-term success—as a woman who creates Nigerian popular music—is an anomaly, and such success has not been without backlash.
Editor’s note: This essay is available in our print issue, The Age of Afrobeats. Buy the issue here.
Tiwa Savage signed to Mavin Records in 2012, at a time when the label was going through a transitionary phase and shedding its old image under Mo’Hits Records. Branded as Mavin’s ‘first lady’, Tiwa Savage demonstrated that women could play a leading role within contemporary Afrobeats music. At the time, there was an unspoken rule of leaving mainstream Nigerian music ‘to the men’. This is not to suggest that women were not making great music in the mid-2000s, but to highlight that music by women was not primarily at the forefront of mainstream Nigerian consciousness, music or media. Waje and Omawunmi were widely recognized as Nigerian R&B singers, Asa and TY Bello dominated the alternative music space and Weird MC, Sasha P and Mo’ Cheddah were key players in rap music. Although Tiwa Savage’s musical sound did not fit neatly into these genres, she showed it was possible for women to create equally great contemporary Afrobeats music on both a national and global scale.
Alongside her widespread exposure and acclaim, Tiwa Savage’s success as a mainstream artist within a male-dominated industry and society has been laced with moral panic from her audience. Such moral panic is worth revisiting because it brings into focus the alarming ways that Nigerian society views the bodily autonomy of women artists and entertainers...
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