•Tiwa Savage
Afrobeats singer Tiwa Savage has claimed that there is a pervasive nature of exploitation in the country’s music industry.
Speaking at a panel discussion organised by Entertainment Week Africa, Savage shared personal experiences of being pressured to offer sexual favours in exchange for career opportunities.
According to Savage, she has been told to visit influential male executives to secure bookings and has lost endorsement deals for refusing to compromise her values.
One such instance involved being asked to go on a holiday to Dubai with a company co-owner, which she declined, resulting in the loss of a lucrative endorsement opportunity.
She said, “I had been told that if I didn’t go and see ‘this chairman’ personally, I would not be put on a show. I lost an endorsement because I refused to go to Dubai with a man who is one of the owners of the company.
“That was when I realised that they don’t value my talent but my body, which I was only flaunting as part of branding. It ended up hurting me because that is all they were seeing.”
