Kussu Productions announced details of an anticipated new music project in Africa, Nigeria entitled “The Urban Sound of Lagos”.
(1888PressRelease) October 31, 2008 - The founder and managing director of Kussu Productions, Didier Kussu unveiled his strategy for the future of the African Music Industry, emphasizing the importance of artist development, his investment in the African Music Publishing Organization and The Urban Sound of Lagos & The Urban Sound of Africa Projects.
African countries have a lot of creative talents and creative potentials but the music industry in Africa is still underdevelop do you know why? Because there is no strong system of collection societies, which ensure that royalties are collected and paid to the songwriters and right holders. Plus, the fact that piracy, transparency, laws & regulations are some of the biggest challenges for the industry, he added.
Mr. Kussu said: I am excited about this project and I am very humble & proud to be working with them and I am also committed to give these artists the opportunity to present their music, vision and inspiration to the world. “Hip Hop and Urban Music” have really changed the music industry, it is more than just a music genre, it’s a global culture and what’s interesting is that; All over the world from Europe to Japan from Russia to Palestine, young people have adopted the black American culture, they way of dressing, talking, walking and they really identified with that. One day, I was at the train station in Germany in the city of Dusseldorf and there were four young German boys (whites of course) with iPod listening to hip hop music and suddenly another one has joined the group and all were happy saying; Wie geht N***** (N-Word), something like what´s up my N*****. After one minute, I approached them because, I was interested to know what makes them saying this kind word in the public and actually feel good about it.
You what I found out? This boys were serious about calling themselves N***** and sincerely they did not intend to hurt anyone, in the contrary these boys don’t have any idea about the history of the “N-Word”, they were happy, naïve and they think that’s a cool thing to say, since they all listen to T.I., Lil Wayne, and they love Tupac even though we are in year 2008. It was an interesting experience to see how hip-hop has transformed the young generation worldwide, even in country like Germany.
However from my perspective, it is very difficult from a non-American hip-hop artist to imitate Jay-Z or Eminem and become more successful or at least as successful as Jay-Z or Eminem. However some of the urban Jamaican and Latin artists are quite successful as their American colleagues, Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder, Daddy Yankee just to name a few. The reason is because they have incorporated the hip hop concept into their Jamaican dancehall or reggaeton, meaning they use hip hop-attitude in their music-videos and shows but rap or sing in their own language, use their own slang and combine that with some of their own dance styles, in short it become original and different but still familiar with the majority of the type of urban music-videos that we know.
Anyway, what I see in the city of Lagos is much bigger than the urban Jamaican or Latin experience. First of all, Nigeria has the largest population in any black country on Earth. Second of all, the energy and optimism among the young people despite what they are going through everyday is just unimaginable and lastly the creative talent and the strong will to make a change in their lives, have really moved me.
In this project, we have selected an army of the most gifted talents that Nigerian and African have to offer. These artists are highly professionals, committed and able to compete on international market. 9ice, the winner of MOBO Awards “Best Artist”, 2face Idibia, won MTV Europe Awards “Best African Act” with the song “African Queen”, co-written by Blackface Naija and MOBO Awards “Best African Act”, UK Channel O Music Video Awards “Best Male Video”, Paul Play, Sunny Neji, OJB, Obiwon, Bigiano, Zeal, Niyola, General Pype, Ruff Rugged & Raw, Ben Foster, Vector, Yootman, Snypa, Ameena among others.
Music is not just entertainment, but also dialogue. Therefore the aim of the project is to promote unity, peace and freedom in Africa and the world, to create awareness about the climate change and other challenges of the 21st century. At the same time we want to send a positive message to the young people that, in spite of all the global challenges, there are opportunities for a better future in Africa but Africans need become masters of their own destiny.
Finally, I am convinced that this project will not only promote a positive perception of Africa in the world but may also help to lay an economic foundation--only few major successful projects in different sectors may really transform the export structure of the economy away from primary commodity dependence, and music is one of these and that will definitely have a big impact in the economy, something like the “Nashville” in the US.
About kussu productions
Established in 1994, kussu productions is a music content company with global businesses in music publishing and recorded music, includes artist development, management and music library as specialties.
kussu productions is home to a collection of active publishing companies such as Murder Riddims Publishing, Indie Songs Publishing UK, Indie Songs Publishing Scandinavia, Latin Music Publishing Group USA, Latin Music Publishing Group Europe, African Music Publishing and Kussu Music Publishing. Independent records labels including Universoul Vibes, Murder Riddims Records, and F!cking Dope Records, Inc.
About African Music Publishing
African Music Publishing is an independent global African copyright licensing & copyright administration organization founded in 2008.
African Music Publishing’s core competency is to help African songwriters, artists, producers in building their repertoire, copyright administration, licensing services, supporting them with marketing, collection and distribution of royalties.
For further questions, please contact: Anne Marie Lara
Kussu Productions announced details of an anticipated new music project in Africa, Nigeria entitled “The Urban Sound of Lagos”. 
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