Music & Film

The Grammys claims to recognise excellence. But it also celebrates US cultural imperialism and commercial success – a track record evident in its history.

Souleymane Cissé is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest African film-makers of all time – and the world’s most prestigious film festival, Cannes, agrees. The Mali-born director has been announced as this year’s recipient of the Carrosse d’Or (the Golden Coach) award.

Winky D, a 40-year-old Zimdancehall artist, is hugely popular in Zimbabwe. He’s also increasingly in the news for the messages in his songs, some of which address social injustice and corruption under a regime that stifles freedom of expression.

On Timeless, Davido keeps it simple and resists any temptation to reinvent his own wheel. He has never been a socially conscious artist and never pretended to be. The lack of range of topics addressed in the album reveals his contentment with the level he’s always maintained and a stark lack of ambition to push beyond his boundaries.

A multi-genre artist, Kidjo sings traditional Benin folk songs, deep blues, fervid West African R&B, hard rock and urban club bangers in multiple languages with Fon, Yoruba, French and English being her main modes of expression. In person, Kidjo is spry and compact; she radiates fierceness.

Dhamaal is a mix of Sufi and African (mostly East African) musical and dance traditions. It refers particularly to the spiritual practices of the Siddis of Gujarat.

AKA embraced his self-annointed mission as a hip-hop star whole-heartedly. Undoubtedly, the African music landscape is diminished by his untimely death.

While it may be convenient and useful to be inspired by Fela in order to borrow his influence and spirit, these two recent applications suggest a sort of desperation – even an outright opportunism on the part of today’s artists.