How Collaborations Have Shaped the Bongo Music Scene
23 June 2020
By Paul A.
Collaborating with another musician can produce great creative outcomes. In this case, working with other top musicians takes one out of their comfort zones.
Some of the big names in the bongo scene have evolved thanks to strategic collabos that introduced them to new songwriting practices and ideas.
This article looks at some of the benefits of collaborations and how they shaped the general bongo music scene.
Tapping into new fan bases
Musicians tend to build their hardcore fan bases over time. However, it reaches a point when they need to reach new markets. In this case, collabos usually offer the necessary bridge to achieve this fete. If the collaborating musician is worth their salt, tapping into a new market becomes easy. For example, Diamond was largely an East African musician, before bringing on board Davido for the ‘Number One’ remix. This song pushed Diamond to become a household name in Nigeria. At the same time, it opened doors for more Naija collabos.
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Expanding the network
A part from gaining fans, collabos also enables musicians to build a network of useful contacts that will be beneficial along the way. Contacts enable one to get new collabos, shows, media coverage among others. In Tanzania, after Harmonize penetrated the Nigerian market after a collabo with Burna Boy and Diamond, he established contacts that have become beneficial under his new record label. He relied on this connection to get a collabo with Joe Boy for his signee Ibraah. At this stage, Ibraah has no connection in Nigeria and he relied on contacts established by Harmonize.
Global mindset
Artistes tend to produce projects with a global vision after conducting collaborations with other musicians. We have seen improved quality in terms of the bongo music business. Most Tanzanian musicians tend to head to South Africa for video shoots just to give their music a global touch. Such practices emerged after musicians like Diamond conducted collabos with top stars like Rick Ross.
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