Over the years, the Afrobeats music scene in Cyprus has seen it's highs and lows with 2014, 2015 and 2017 been it's peak years so far. We have seen the rise and fall of some artists and we have also seen some artists stay consistent and make their mark with awards, sold out shows and a sizeable following to show for it. Things haven't always been well structured but artists, event organizers, DJ, blogs and everyone else involved have pushed through regradless.
With regrads to all that has been done and said and achieved and lost, some of the questions that have been begging for an answers are 'why is there a shortage of female artists when compared to their male counterparts?', 'if there are female artists, why do they not get as much coverage as their male counterparts'? and so on.
Now lets go to the beginning.
Afrobeats music in Cyprus began as far back as 2005 with acts like Chuchu Movaine, Lord Trigg and a few others. A few years later, acts like El BeeVersaceBoyz, DET, King Josh, Jigga Man, Kerry Wayne and more took over the scene. A few more years down the line we witnessed the rise of more acts like Kevin Tita, TBonez,Cash Para, FreshPac, Yung Tizzer and in this time line was when the first female act that can be considered mainstream in Cyprus was introduced to the African community in Cyprus. Her name is JayBlinkz.
JayBlinkz
Joy Princess Lekwot otherwise known as JayBlinkz is currently the most accomplished afrobeats female artist to ever step foot in Cyprus as far as achievemnts and profiles go in Cyprus. She burst into the scene in 2015 with the release of her debut single 'Komaro' featuring a Yung Tizzer. Though the song wasn't that much of a hit, she signed a deal with comedian, NI Emeka's independent imprint, Odogwu Entertainment and through this deal she got plenty show bookings and extensive conerage from blogs.
For a few months, JayBlinkz was still a rookie to be watched and people wanted to see what will happen to her quest as an artist. It wasn't till early 2016 that she finally gave everyone want they were waiting for. She teamed up with her male counterparts, rappers Kevin Tita and the then biggest artist in Cyprus, El Bee to record and release her biggest song to date, 'Million Dollar Movement'. The song was so big that she travelled to other cities in Cyprus to perform it alongside Kevin Tita. because of the popularity of the song, she won the awards for Song Of The Year and also became the first and only female artist to win the coveted Artist Of The Year plaque at the ASGA Awards in 2016. It sure was her year. She watsed no time and followed up with the release of her next single and video for 'What Do You Want From Me' in which Kevin Tita and TBonez played roles as the male vixens in the video. JayBlinkz shared thesame stage as some A list artists that came to Cyprus including, Mr Eazi, L.A.X, Mayorkun, Terry G and more.
MIMI
While it seemed like JayBlinkz was now the first and only female Afrobeats act to hit the scene in Cyprus, another female act who performs under the moniker, Mimi was also brewing and rising as well. She had been around before JayBlinkz took off but for some reason, her sound didn't catch on till late 2016 when she recorded and released a cover to Reekado Bank's smash hit song 'Problem'. On this song she featured another artist that was just on the rise at the time M'Rhymes. Mimi's name found it's way to everyone's lips and her song found it's way to everyone's playlist as well. Though Mimi didn't attain the heights that JayBlinkz attained and is still retaining, she sure was a good addition to the list of female artists in Cyprus. She shared thesame stage as some A list Nigerian acts that came to Cyprus such as Mr Eazi, Falz and YCee. She also hosts her own radio show every wednesday on DAU 106.5 FM through which she supports other Afrobeats acts in Cyprus.
Now besides these two, JayBlinkz and MIMI, we have also had a glimpse of a few other female artists who seemed like they were coming out to become an addition to a very scanty list of female artists in Cyprus but didn't do much afterwards.
First act was Zimbabwean singer, Mayoyo who is a member of the Cyprus based hiphop group, DET. Though she hasn't released an official solo single to date, she featured on various songs by the group including the late 2016 diss track 'OOUU remix' and she performed at CIU's Spring Festival which was recorded on video and posted to social media. We also heard tunes from another Zimbabwean female singer, Lemo who featured on DJ SimonSayz song 'Dont Let Me Go'. After that one song, she signed a management deal with DJ SimonSayz's label and that was all we heard from her.
There was also a touch of gospel female acts in the mix. last year 3 female gospel singers released their songs symultaneouly, their names are Chioma, Loveth and Toseen. The songs didn't really do much and they didn't get as much recognition as their male gospel singing counterparts. There have also been others who we can't really recall right now or dont even know much about.
Back to the Roots
Back to the original purpose or question for this article...... Why is there a shortage of famale afrobeats musicians in Cyprus? Now we will try to answer the question next.
Reasons.
1. A very young Indyustry.
The Industry in Cyprus is still very young and very much not structured at all. There hasn't been upto 100 afrobeats musicians combined in Cyprus from time immemorial which means regardless of how many males have been buzzing on the Island, there are even fewer females to go laong with that.
2. Work Load
The work load it takes to produce, release, promote and perform a song or album in Cyprus might be another reason females find it hard to break through. While writing music might not be a major challeneg for these female talents, recording it with a good producer and coughing up money for promotions is definitely a problem as we have seen. To record a professionally mixed and mastered song costs around 500 to 1,00 Turkish Lira. While the males artists in Cyprus can rough it up and get the work done, the females aren't even involved enough to be motivated to spend such an amount of money on recording and producing just one song that might not pay off.
3. Sexual Exploitation
Possible exploitation of female artists on the Island for personal gains might also be another factor. We have heard behind the scenes stories where a female act approached a guy that owns a record label and organises events to be her manager and things started out well with the pair until the guy started asking her for sexual favors. Once she refused his advances, that was it for her, no one heard from her again. Also we have heard stories where a female act was asked to give bed room favors in exchange for promotions by a number of male industry movers that would have played key roles in getting her name out there. This also could be another huge problem.
4. Late Nights.
It could also be that the reason why we don't hear much from female talents in Cyprus is the too much amount of late nights that will be spent in trying to get your name out there. We know that most events where artists are booked to perform in Cyprus are held in the night time at night clubs unless it's a proper concert in halls and theatres. 80 percent of the shows here kick off around 12 midnight, most female acts might not like to stay out till that late and when they do it first, second and third time, they just give up and do something else.
5. Industry Bias.
The final reason is plain and simple, the industry is built at the stage to favor the male acts over the female acts. When event organisers want to draw up a list of artists to pay for performances at their events, they can book as much as 5 male acts at one time but they only want one fame to spice things up. When did the female gender become a 'spice things up' factor in arts? At the height of JayBlinkz's popularity, she still wasn't booking as much shows as Kevin Tita who was at thesame same height at the time and from all indications wasn't getting offered as much as him to perform on thesame show line ups. Females also don't see other females doing it as much so they lose motivation. If you ask MIMI today, we are certain she will admit that 'JayBlinkz rise in the music scene in Cyprus inspired and motivated her in some way. She needed that motivation, they all need that motivation. One thing that has been constant for both of them is that they collaborated with the males before people heard them, what if they collaborate with each other, will they get thesame reception? We are yet to fing that out.
#REPLAYTUNES: Why Is There A Shortage Of Female Artists In Cyprus?
Reviewed by Unknown
on
06:15
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Reviewed by Unknown
on
06:15
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