Did You Know

.Did you know that Africa never had a music category at the Grammy Awards until 2024? That’s right! The first ever African music category at the Grammy Awards known as “Best African Music Performance” never existed until last year when Tyla, the South African music star, won it with her song titled “Water”. The award seeks to celebrate Afrobeats, Amapiano, and other African styles on the global stage, and other nominees for this particular award included Asake & Olamide’s “Amapiano”, Burna’s “City Boy”, Davido ft Musa Keys’ “Unavailable” and Ayra Starr’s “Rush”. This matters a lot because it is the first Grammy award category to be dedicated specifically to African music and it purports to celebrate African music genres including Afrobeats, Amapiano, Afro-fusion, Highlife, Gqom and the likes.  It doesn’t look like much but it marks the formal recognition of Africa’s cultural and economic influence in global music. Overtime, African artists had been dominating streaming charts, and selling out concerts but never had a global music award of their own until 2024. It should however be noted that some African artists, like Wizkid and Burna Boy, had already won Grammys before this category existed. @Alaro_Basit

Did you know that Africa never had a music category at the Grammy Awards until 2024? That’s right! The first ever African music category at the Grammy Awards known as “Best African Music Performance” never existed until last year when Tyla, the South African music star, won it with her song titled “Water”. The award seeks to celebrate Afrobeats, Amapiano, and other African styles on the global stage, and other nominees for this particular award included Asake & Olamide’s “Amapiano”, Burna’s “City Boy”, Davido ft Musa Keys’ “Unavailable” and Ayra Starr’s “Rush”. This matters a lot because it is the first Grammy award category to be dedicated specifically to African music and it purports to celebrate African music genres including Afrobeats, Amapiano, Afro-fusion, Highlife, Gqom and the likes. It doesn’t look like much but it marks the formal recognition of Africa’s cultural and economic influence in global music. Overtime, African artists had been dominating streaming charts, and selling out concerts but never had a global music award of their own until 2024. It should however be noted that some African artists, like Wizkid and Burna Boy, had already won Grammys before this category existed. @Alaro_Basit

Did you know that Afrobeat and Afrobeats are not the same thing?? Did you know that Afrobeat and Afrobeats are not the same thing?? Walk with me, while Afrobeat (no “s”) is a genre pioneered by Fela Kuti in the 1970s to be a blend of highlife, jazz, funk, and traditional African rhythms entailing long songs (usually 10-15mins) of powerful protest music with hypnotic grooves and fiery energy.E.g: “Water No Get Enemy” – Fela Kuti Afrobeats (with an “s”) on the other hand is the modern wave that is a catchy fusion of Afro-pop, hip-hop, dancehall, R&B, and electronic sounds.Popularized by artists like Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido, and Tiwa Savage, Afrobeats is shorter in length, less political & more about vibes, love, lifestyle and hustle.E.g: “Essence” – Wizkid ft. Tems Same continent, different vibes —one is a movement, the other is a global sound! Stay Informed, Stay Creative! Alaro Basit

Beethoven Composed some of His Greatest Works While Completely Deaf Despite losing his hearing in his 30s, Ludwig van Beethoven continued to create masterpieces like Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 9 (“Ode to Joy”), and his Late String Quartets—all without being able to hear them. Born in 1770 and died in1827, Ludwig Van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist, often considered one of the greatest musicians in history. He is notable for helping to transition music from the Classical era (Mozart, Haydn) to the Romantic era (Chopin, Brahms). However, his life took a sudden turn when he began losing his hearing in his late 20s and became almost completely deaf by 40. While the exact cause of his deafness remains ambiguous, some probable causes include, Lead poisoning, Typhus, Autoimmune disease and Nerve damage. Now, the question is, how Did He Continue to Compose Without Hearing? Reports have it that Beethoven used to press his ear to the piano’s soundboard to feel vibrations. It is even rumoured that he tried attaching a metal rod to his jaw to pick up vibrations when playing piano. Many also believe that some of Beethoven’s greatest works were composed when he could no longer hear. Infact, during the Premiere of Symphony No. 9, Beethoven conducted and had to be turned around by one of the musicians so he could see the audience’s standing ovation—because he couldn’t hear their cheers, this moment is considered one of the most moving in music history. Beethoven is proof that creativity is not limited by physical conditions. Stay resilient, Stay unstoppable!

DYK: Sports Edition

Melodies & Motivation

The Haunted Studio – Sound City  Founded in 1969 and shut down in 2011, the Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California holds a reputation of being the confluence point of Music History and Mystery. The Studio holds a reputation of strange energy and has been reported by countless musicians and engineers to have a “charged” or “haunted” feeling in certain rooms. In 2013, Dave Grohl, in his documentary on Sound City, described the place as “magnetic and spiritual,” claiming that something “non-human” seemed to guide the creative process. There’s also been reports of flickering lights, cold spots, unexplainable equipment malfunction and audio glitches that defy the laws of analog tech. Room 3 is particularly reported to be “The Epicenter of Weird” with many artists including Travis Scott, Rick Rubin, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, and others claiming to have felt  watched or emotionally overwhelmed while recording in the room. A producer once described an experience where a track “recorded itself backwards” without any engineering influence or post-editing; and why there’s no exact explanation for it, it is believed that the strange feelings come from the emotional intensity and age-long creativity that’s been stored in the studio due to the greatness of most pioneering artists that made use of the studio. Some bands are even rumoured to have requested for midnight sessions as it is believed the eerie energy might be at its peak then. Stay Mystic, Stay Creative! @Alaro Basit 

Did You Know

Money and Fame! Did you know that on the 21st of January, 2023, Beyoncé was paid $24 million for a single one-hour performance at the Atlantis The Royal hotel in Dubai, UAE. That is about $320,000 per minute for a 75-minutes performance. It is reportedly a branding strategy employed by the Hotel’s parent company, Kerzner International, to prove the company’s opulence and exclusivity.  Reports also have it that phones were banned at the concert to maintain exclusivity and that she was accompanied by her daughter, Blue Ivy, for a special duet of Brown Skin Girl, making it Blue Ivy’s first international stage appearance. Stay dreaming, Stay hungry! @Alaro_Basit

DYK? Did you know that Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was the first music video by a Black artist to air on MTV? Backstory: When MTV (Music Television) launched in 1981, it was exclusive to rock music video by white artists. This deliberate discrimination and reluctance to post Black artists by the TV network brought them the wrath of public opinion and the music industry. Micheal Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was the Messiah. Billie Jean was a gem. Coming not only with a groundbreaking musical innovation but also with a very high quality video that bests short films, it was just impossible to downplay. Hence, breaking the race barrier set by MTV who initially refused to air the video but eventually bent the knee due to immense pressure from the popularity of the song and CBS Records’ President, Walter Yetnikoff. This ordeal aided the video to become a massive hit and pushed the album Thriller  to become the best-selling album of all time while also paving the way for other Black artists including Prince and Whitney Houston to also get aired on the network. Michael did not only break records, but he also broke barriers! Stay Creative, Stay Hungry! @Alaro Basit