Tiwa Savage, an Afrobeats singer, says that exploitation is common in the country’s music industry.
At a panel discussion put on by Entertainment Week Africa, Savage talked about how she had been pressed to have sex in exchange for job possibilities.
Savage says that she has been told to meet with powerful male executives in order to get bookings, and she has lost endorsement deals because she won’t sacrifice her ideals.
One day, a firm co-owner urged her to go on vacation to Dubai with them, but she said no, which cost her a chance to make a lot of money by endorsing a product.
She added, “I had been told that I wouldn’t be put on a show if I didn’t go see ‘this chairman’ in person.” I lost an endorsement because I wouldn’t go to Dubai with a man who owns part of the company.
“That’s when I realized they didn’t care about my talent; they only cared about my body, which I was only showing off as part of my branding. It wounded me in the end since that’s all they saw.
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