Korede Bello, a renowned Nigerian singer, has recently expressed his concerns about the impact of young artistes in Nigeria on the music industry.
According to Bello, the rise of young artistes in Nigeria has led to a noticeable decline in the quality of music emerging from the country. In a candid discussion on Hip TV’s Trending, hosted by reality personality Kim Oprah, the 28-year-old artist shared his perspective on the issue. Bello pointed out that many young artistes in Nigeria lack the necessary experience to produce high-quality music. He argued that the more rapidly an artist gains success, the more likely their music quality suffers.
Bello stated, “When you start to have young artistes in Nigeria blowing up, the quality of the music starts to reduce because they don’t have quality experiences. They don’t know how to live yet. Young people don’t yet know how to live, they just know that they are living. They want to live large, so that’s what they’re going to sing about.”
He contrasted the current trend with older Nigerian musicians like African China, Timaya, and Fela Kuti, who have drawn from their rich experiences to create music that reflects real-life struggles and stories.
Meanwhile, Korede Bello has also shared his views on the value of music awards versus making a positive impact through music. He stated that while winning a Grammy is an honour, the true goal for artists should be to make people happy through their music. In a recent interview, Bello questioned whether Nigerian artists should rely on foreign awards like the Grammys for validation. He emphasized that rewards, such as economic success or return on investment, are preferable to awards.
“There is a common pidgin saying that can loosely be translated to mean, it is where one works that one will eat’. Part of the things we eat’ as artistes is validation for our art. Validation for making great art is good. And, that can be very inspirational for others to make better art. When an artiste makes it to the nomination list of a prestigious award, they are already winners in my opinion. Every other thing is subjective. However, I believe in rewards over awards. Rewards can come in the form of commercial success or returns on investment. That way, one knows that the quality of what one puts in is what will determine what one will get. Awards are good, but knowing that one’s art makes many people happy is a better feeling.”
Regarding inspiration, Bello mentioned that he draws creativity from various sources, including pain.
“As far as I am concerned, there is no place that is too weird to get inspiration from. Everything is art, and everything can be inspirational. Pain is a beautiful place’ to create art from. As a matter of fact, this question is already giving me inspiration for a new song. Is that weird?”
In other related news, Korede Bello also shared his perspective on the value of music awards versus making a positive impact through music. He emphasized that while winning a Grammy is an honour, the true goal for artists should be to make people happy through their music. He questioned whether Nigerian artists should rely on foreign awards like the Grammys for validation and stressed that rewards, such as economic success or return on investment, are preferable to awards.
“There is a common pidgin saying that can loosely be translated to mean, it is where one works that one will eat’. Part of the things we eat’ as artistes is validation for our art. Validation for making great art is good. And, that can be very inspirational for others to make better art. When an artiste makes it to the nomination list of a prestigious award, they are already winners in my opinion.
Every other thing is subjective. However, I believe in rewards over awards. Rewards can come in the form of commercial success or returns on investment. That way, one knows that the quality of what one puts in is what will determine what one will get. Awards are good, but knowing that one’s art makes many people happy is a better feeling.”
On inspiration, Bello mentioned that he finds creativity in various sources, including pain.
“As far as I am concerned, there is no place that is too weird to get inspiration from. Everything is art, and everything can be inspirational. Pain is a beautiful place’ to create art from. As a matter of fact, this question is already giving me inspiration for a new song. Is that weird?”
