Tiwa Savage Talks Legacy, Motherhood and the Demands of Inspiration on Afrobeats Intelligence

Although Tiwa Savage is a recurring presence in Nigerian pop, her personal views haven’t been reflected as we hear on this episode. She opens up beautifully to Akan, who’s a personal friend, talking about everything from motherhood and the details that’s gone behind one of African music’s best careers.

“During lockdown, I had a studio (at home) and I was actually trying to learn how to record myself,” she said early in the conversation. “And then I realized that I was always there. 2 a.m. in the morning, and sometimes I’m not even recording, I’m just listening to music, watching something. Initially I was not spending time with my son especially, and it wasn’t good for me ‘cos I couldn’t separate work from home ‘cos work was in my home. And I didn’t like that; I wanted to be able to leave work and come home.”

From there, the conversation moves into her not wanting a music career for her son, as artists have some of the most difficult jobs one could think of. “I said this one time that I can’t sign an artist and I got a lot of backlash,” she says. “My heart can’t take it. It’s hard. The rate of success is very slim, not only that, if you’re blessed to [have hits], your life span, it might not be, 10 years. It might not even be five years, so it’s even harder to sustain a career and to be lucrative. Mentally, as well, imagine being an artist and you’re not really making as much as people think you are but you have to live like you are”.

After returning from the U.S., Tiwa Savage would also speak on challenges with her branding, with some labels wanting to make her the “African Rihanna,” a categorization that didn’t really match her vision. Other labels didn’t think her “blending R&B and Afrobeats would work,” she said, “Everyone was like, ‘you’re a great singer, you look amazing.’ It was more like, let’s think about it, but I never got the call back.”

In a conversation that touched expressively on the theme of imagery, Tiwa Savage also spoke about musical inspiration. With her longevity in view, Akan would ask how she’s kept in touch with industry changes, to which the artist responded, “I don’t know. This project (her upcoming album) I’m doing, I’m taking a risk. It’s not like I know for sure this one is going to enter. I feel like I’m that kind of person that can take accountability. If I do something, and it doesn’t work, I always learn, I always take something from it. I never let it defeat me. I just always try and go with my guts.

Watch the interview below.