Latest news with #Drummer
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rare photos capture Afrobeats' rise to take over the world
Afrobeats has swept the world of music like a tsunami - it dominates playlists and its fans cram into huge stadiums to hear the likes of Nigerian superstars Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy. Photographer Oliver Akinfeleye, known professionally as "Drummer", caught the Afrobeats wave early - and he decided to document it as it grew into a global phenomenon. Since 2017, the New Yorker of Nigerian descent has had exclusive backstage access to some of the biggest artists of the genre - capturing quieter moments of reflection as well as strutting stage performances. "I remember my first project with Wizkid like it was yesterday - Echostage Washington DC, 2017," Drummer told the BBC. "The feeling was exhilarating. It was my job to tell the visual story of how it all went down." Drummer has not stopped clicking since - and has now released Eagle Eye, a book of photographs showcasing Afrobeats' rise from humble beginnings to one of Africa's largest cultural exports. Afrobeats has its roots in various West African musical genres that became especially popular in the decades that followed independence as the continent began celebrating its freedom from colonial rule. Highlife, which flourished along the coast from the late 19th Century, became synonymous with Ghana's national identity after independence in 1957 - and was in turn hugely influential on Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. His Afrobeat (minus the "s") movement, which mixed traditional rhythms with funk and jazz, became the sound of the 1970s and 1980s in West Africa. At the turn of the millennium, this rich cultural heritage fed into Afrobeats, along with a mix of Western pop, rap and dancehall. It gained further popularity in the UK and North America, where there are large diaspora populations, in particular from Nigeria, where most of the genre's stars came from. Afrobeats artists began performing to these communities at first in small venues in the early 2010s. Then it really take off - between 2017 and 2022 Afrobeats experienced 550% growth in streams on Spotify, according to data from the world's most popular streaming service. This resulted in many of the artists becoming household names around the world, and the musical industry taking note. It has gone on to include African music in mainstream award ceremonies like the Grammys. Today these artists easily pack out stadiums like Madison Square Garden in New York - pictured below ahead of Wizkid's performance in 2023. "Madison Square was a night to remember - the iconic venue illuminated in the colours of the Nigerian flag honouring our homeland," says Drummer. Drummer was able to take photographs of the musicians as they started out on their global careers. "I always felt that I was capturing moments with just my eyes. Walking the streets of New York City, I would frame scenes in my mind - people, light, emotion," the photographer says. "I'd ask myself, how do I translate this mental perspective to reality?" Gradually, the audience grew and became more international with fans in countries such as China, Germany and Brazil. Now even non-African musicians are taking up the Afrobeats sound and releasing their own versions, including artists such as Chris Brown, who released Blow My Mind with Davido. The US singer has also performed with Wizkid in London - as the photo below from 2021 shows. "I love this picture because when Wizkid brought Chris Brown out at The O2 arena, the place exploded. No-one saw it coming - the energy shifted instantly," says Drummer. "Shock, excitement and pure electricity. A moment stamped in memory and in history." Drummer says one of the aims of the photo book is not to just show people what he saw, but to help them feel what he experienced - through his pictures. It also sometimes reveals the feelings of the superstars in their private moments. This final picture shows Wizkid backstage on his phone in 2021. It was "a rare quiet moment", but even in the silence and the calm his presence spoke volumes, says Drummer. The sounds that has penetrated the world Afrobeats megastar Burna Boy is still 'a work in progress', his mother says Rema, the Afrobeats star who does not intend to calm down How Afrobeats made it to the very top of Glastonbury Afrobeats is finally getting its own chart Go to for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica Focus on Africa This Is Africa
BBC News
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Afrobeats - rare photos chart the rise of Wizkid, Burna Boy and Davido
Afrobeats has swept the world of music like a tsunami - it dominates playlists and its fans cram into huge stadiums to hear the likes of Nigerian superstars Wizkid, Davido and Burna Oliver Akinfeleye, known professionally as "Drummer", caught the Afrobeats wave early - and he decided to document it as it grew into a global 2017, the New Yorker of Nigerian descent has had exclusive backstage access to some of the biggest artists of the genre - capturing quieter moments of reflection as well as strutting stage performances."I remember my first project with Wizkid like it was yesterday - Echostage Washington DC, 2017," Drummer told the BBC. "The feeling was exhilarating. It was my job to tell the visual story of how it all went down." Drummer has not stopped clicking since - and has now released Eagle Eye, a book of photographs showcasing Afrobeats' rise from humble beginnings to one of Africa's largest cultural has its roots in various West African musical genres that became especially popular in the decades that followed independence as the continent began celebrating its freedom from colonial which flourished along the coast from the late 19th Century, became synonymous with Ghana's national identity after independence in 1957 - and was in turn hugely influential on Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. His Afrobeat (minus the "s") movement, which mixed traditional rhythms with funk and jazz, became the sound of the 1970s and 1980s in West the turn of the millennium, this rich cultural heritage fed into Afrobeats, along with a mix of Western pop, rap and dancehall. It gained further popularity in the UK and North America, where there are large diaspora populations, in particular from Nigeria, where most of the genre's stars came artists began performing to these communities at first in small venues in the early it really take off - between 2017 and 2022 Afrobeats experienced 550% growth in streams on Spotify, according to data from the world's most popular streaming service. This resulted in many of the artists becoming household names around the world, and the musical industry taking has gone on to include African music in mainstream award ceremonies like the these artists easily pack out stadiums like Madison Square Garden in New York - pictured below ahead of Wizkid's performance in 2023."Madison Square was a night to remember - the iconic venue illuminated in the colours of the Nigerian flag honouring our homeland," says Drummer. Drummer was able to take photographs of the musicians as they started out on their global careers. "I always felt that I was capturing moments with just my eyes. Walking the streets of New York City, I would frame scenes in my mind - people, light, emotion," the photographer says."I'd ask myself, how do I translate this mental perspective to reality?"Gradually, the audience grew and became more international with fans in countries such as China, Germany and Brazil. Now even non-African musicians are taking up the Afrobeats sound and releasing their own versions, including artists such as Chris Brown, who released Blow My Mind with US singer has also performed with Wizkid in London - as the photo below from 2021 shows."I love this picture because when Wizkid brought Chris Brown out at The O2 arena, the place exploded. No-one saw it coming - the energy shifted instantly," says Drummer."Shock, excitement and pure electricity. A moment stamped in memory and in history." Drummer says one of the aims of the photo book is not to just show people what he saw, but to help them feel what he experienced - through his also sometimes reveals the feelings of the superstars in their private final picture shows Wizkid backstage on his phone in was "a rare quiet moment", but even in the silence and the calm his presence spoke volumes, says Drummer. More about Afrobeats from the BBC: The sounds that has penetrated the worldAfrobeats megastar Burna Boy is still 'a work in progress', his mother saysRema, the Afrobeats star who does not intend to calm downHow Afrobeats made it to the very top of GlastonburyAfrobeats is finally getting its own chart Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘I'm doing what wasn't done for me': Bakersfield woman shows resilience, strength after traumatic experiences of her youth
Note: This story includes details of drug and sexual abuse. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — This year's Remarkable Woman is unlike any nominee before her. She has overcome unbelievable adversity, including human trafficking, sexual abuse and gang involvement, to now guiding Bakersfield students facing their own obstacles. Recently, those students and her colleagues helped 17 News pull off a remarkable surprise. It's still a surprise to Dess Perkins when people stand up and cheer for her. 'She deserves it. She's been doing a lot for us — me personally. She does a lot for me. She's always been there for me,' said Ridgeview High School junior Ray'Sean Drummer. MORE: Remarkable Women 'She is an incredible person. She has an incredible story of resilience from surviving human trafficking to turning that story around and helping so many people in the community especially our youth who are at risk,' said Rony Alvarez, who nominated Perkins for the Remarkable Woman contest. There was a time when Perkins was kicked out of high school, but now she works at one. When she was a teenager, she was tormented by extreme poverty, trafficked by her mother and molested by people who were supposed to protect her. She learned to cope by drinking, stealing and fighting. Now, her counseling office is a safe space at Ridgeview High School. 'I take being a counselor, I take being a teacher, I take all of that very, very seriously,' says Perkins. 'It wasn't until high school that someone actually showed me that they cared. And it was Ruscel Reader. So yeah, that's why I do what I do. She was the first person who bought me anything. The first person that told me I mattered. The first person who came to my house and knock on my door and check on me when I was going through everything. So it means a lot. And that's what I try to do for them.' Odessa Perkins and a surprise meeting with the woman who helped change her life Drummer knows the commitment Perkins has to each and every student. 'For me, she always helps me with advice, regarding school or personal life or issues. It's like a safe space for me. I can always come in her counselor's office and just talk to her and she will always give me advice on how to do better and be better,' said Drummer. 'I've been in law enforcement for 19 years and unfortunately the majority of those stories are tragic and most of the girls don't make it, so her story is one in a million. The fact that she survived and became this incredible woman, I couldn't think of anyone else to nominate for this award,' says Alvarez. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now A heartfelt surprise, for a remarkable woman. 'I just look at it like I'm doing what wasn't done for me. I don't see myself as remarkable I just see myself as I love the students I want them to be OK, and that's all that matters,' Perkins says. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
