Afrobeats Can Help Africa’s Creative Economy Thrive – Mr Eazi 

The musician recently presented his opinions at the 2023 Milken Global Conference, alongside Mo Abudu and others.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Mr. Eazi feels Afrobeats are the key to developing Africa’s creative economy.

According to Vanguard, the famous singer and entrepreneur recently preached the gospel of African music at the 2023 Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles.

Speaking with Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife Group, Prince Jacon Osinachi, co-founder of AfrofutureDAO, and Laolu Senbanjo, a visual artist, he emphasized the importance of Afrobeats in building and boosting the regional creative economy.

Mr. Eazi stated that music from the continent helps sell African items worldwide and shapes global culture, boosting the economy.

The artist contends that by doing so, Afrobeats maintains our legacy while also creating opportunities for cultural interaction.

The talk was moderated by Aubrey Hruby, co-founder of Tofino Capital, and the topic was “Africa: Next Frontier for the Creative Economy.”

In his closing remarks to the panel discussion, Mr. Eazi spoke on the problems in the African music business, including equity involvement in investment and infrastructure.

Noting that intellectual property is one method to establish an orange economy for the African music business, he urged emerging African musicians to think of themselves as start-ups and to invest more in their intellectual property.

The artist’s remarks follow the formation of Choplife Soundsystem, a new pan-African music collective aimed at putting a modern, African spin on sound system culture.

Mr. Eazi was inspired to take the feel and spirit of his popular Ghana holiday party Detty Rave on the road with the Choplife Soundsystem.

So far, he has performed in Cotonou, Benin, Stockholm, Sweden, and Kigali, Rwanda, and released the first official ‘Choplife Soundsystem’ track, Wena.