By: Amadu Wurie Jalloh
What if I told you that Ghana and Nigeria are winning in the ongoing battle of rap supremacy between our own Hip-hop heavyweight and the rest of the OGs across Africa? Would you not be quick to jump into conclusion accusing me of betrayal unto a country fellow-- Kaodenero? Yes, you would.
Especially so when I am the same guy who was taunting him and his fans yesterday and unto today afternoon when I finally decided to forgive and forget his folly. We are starting fasting tomorrow, and we should forgive ans forget.
I however want to tell you that this post is not about Kaodenero, or any of those rappers he's lyrically fighting with. Rather, this post is about our youths in general, but especially Sierra Leonean youths.
A few days ago I wrote a piece asking that people cheer up Kaodenero's project for both its market viability and the chance to promote the African culture and awake its people to a renaissance movement. Well, today again I want us to give a critical insight into the project as a whole and evaluate our gains so far.
But here are a few things you should know. Once more, this is not a piece about Kaodenero or any rapper, but a piece for us the African youths, especially Sierra Leonean youths. Kaodenero is a business man. His every move is a well calculated one. And he is set to upgrade himself, hence, he is packaging his career for the international market since the gains at home have not been huge, and worst still it seems to be getting more derailing in recent while.
But he's not relenting anyway, he thinks he has something to offer the world: his talent, and he is making a through. He's now social media sensation across Africa, especially among Hip-hop lovers.
I however am concerned about the way Sierra Leoneans (especially his fans) have been partaking in the whole project. They can be seen in almost all social media platforms discussing about Kaodenero.
They hit the like button more than any other nation; they make the most comments; and they share the links more than all others. They basically are loyal to the core.
But hey!!! What if I am to tell you that that's not how to win this battle, would you mind taking your time to read this piece in its entirety just so you can understand my point?
Well, to make matters simple. I want us to look at it from a business perspective and not just about the hype. Don't get distracted. You are letting a market opportunity escape you.
Don't just cherry pick punch lines and retorts to amuse fans or provoke the other side. But take your time and observe how the other guys are playing it. Observe how they have assumed panel of judges over the matter. They are the ones who administer the Facebook pages we like to partake in the discuss; they are the ones administering the YouTube accounts that analyse the Lyrical battle; and they are basically the ones making money out of it.
Whilst they are monetising it, we are expensing on it. We simply cannot fathom the market viability the beef is opening up. We are mere cheerers and not chairing it. How many of us know that Video blogging (sharing videos on social media such as YouTube) is a payable business for many people across the world? Few, hu?
Well, what you are looking at is Ghanaians and Nigerians reaping the financial benefit from our so called battle of supremacy whilst we sponsor them.
Since the battle of supremacy started I have never seen a shared YouTube link administered by a Sierra Leonean MC or promoter.
All I keep seeing are Ghanaians and Nigerians administered links followed by Sierra Leoneans. Do you think those guys are doing it in order to promote our music? No! They are taking ownership of the project and capitalizing in your non- entrepreneurial tendencies to make fortune.
That critical thinking is what we have lacked as a people. We do not think business in our every interaction. The Nigerians are peculiar business people. They are smart because they look at almost every situation as a business opportunity, and they reap the gains. We have a lot to learn from these people.
Hey! Don't get it twisted!I am not against the Nigerians and Ghanaians administering those accounts, I am only bringing this to your attention so that we know how to win a battle beyond points to coins; and beyond bars to banks. We should pay attention and observe how the game is played.
The game is a virtual reality game, and there are internet savvy guys who are set waiting for the slightest move triggered by anyone to create an internet sensation to get views and likes so they get paid.
But just how does one get paid with a YouTube account?
YouTube pays video bloggers (basically, people who upload videos on their YouTube account for public consumption) on the basis of "Cost per impression (CPI)".
The CPI is a metric used by YouTube to determine or gauge the amount of views and subscribers a vlogger can reach as per ad (short for advertisement) on every video uploaded. Hence, vloggers can go all out to create an engaging and interesting contents into their accounts to get more subscribers and viewers. Once they hit 10,000 views, they are up to making a pocket money because then they can share ads into those contents which viewers may watch.
The lowest you could make as per 10,000 views is $2, and you can make more by simply sharing more engaging contents. So you now see how this Kaodenero thing is not just about the bars and lyrics but the market viability for vloggers.
We need vloggers in Sierra Leone. It takes great effort and patience to make a fortune out of it, but once you get the numbers, then rest assured you can get the pay.
Make interesting contents and share it to friends and ask them to share them across. We do not need Ghanaians or Nigerians to always appreciate just how well our guys are doing, we can do the same here. We can appreciate their songs and videos and make them follow us as well.
They are over 150 million population. That's a huge market for youths. Since we don't have the MTV or Trace, we can use YouTube to spread our stories across. We can draw their attention to what we do here as well. We do not have to sit by and watch them take the market gains of it whilst we clamour our lyrical prowess. The game is far bigger than Kao and Sarkodie. Kao has done his role, he's brought their attention to us, let's take ownership of the project and serve as members of the panel of judges.
So once more, I ask we become critical of unfolding and give a different looks into issues. Think business and invest your time in building your career and to business...
® Students Analysts and Writers Network
®The Emmanuel Ivorgba Foundation
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