Tiwa Savage
Tiwatope Savage (born 5 February 1980), known professionally as Tiwa Savage, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Isale Eko, she relocated to London at the age of 11 for her secondary education. Five years later, she began her music career doing backup vocals for artists such as George Michael and Mary J. Blige. After participating in the UK edition of The X Factor and graduating from Berklee College of Music, Savage signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2009. Inspired by the growth of the Nigerian music industry, Savage moved back to Nigeria and signed with Mavin Records in 2012. She made an appearance on the label’s 2012 compilation album Solar Plexus.
Her debut studio album Once Upon a Time was released on 3 July 2013. It was supported by seven singles: “Kele Kele Love”, “Love Me (3x)”, “Without My Heart”, “Ife Wa Gbona”, “Folarin”, “Olorun Mi” and “Eminado”. The album was nominated for Best Album of the Year at the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards and for Best R&B/Pop Album at The Headies 2014. Savage’s second studio album R.E.D was released on 19 December 2015. It yielded two singles: “My Darlin” and “Standing Ovation”. In June 2016, Savage signed a management and publishing deal with Roc Nation. In September 2017, she released her debut EP Sugarcane. R.E.D and Sugarc
In November 2018, Savage won Best African Act at the 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards, becoming the first woman to win the category. In May 2019, she announced her record deal with Universal Music Group and exit from Mavin Records. Savage sings in English pigin and Yoruba; her music is a blend of Afrobeats, R&B, pop and hip
Music Business Career
In December 2011, Savage co-hosted the second season of Nigerian Idol alongside IllRymz. She made her film debut with Joke Silva and Ireti Doyle in the stage adaptation of For Coloured Girls. Savage established the 323 Entertainment record label with her former manager and husband Tunji “Tee Billz” Balogun, to whom she got engaged on 5 February 2013. She joined Mavin Records in 2012 and was one of the lead acts on the label’s compilation album Solar Plexus (2012).While attending Berklee College of Music, she networked with musicians Keith Harris, Derek Pate, Scott Coleman, Radar Ellis, and Darien Dorsey. In an interview with journalist Brenda Pike, she said she collaborated with producers Chuck Harmony, Warren “Oak” Felder, and Sossick, among others. She said her debut studio album would include songs in her native tongue. Savage was featured on the remix of “Oyi” in 2012. Prior to collaborating with Flavour, she recorded her own version of the song.
In celebration of the 52nd anniversary of Nigeria’s independence, Savage performed her rendition of “Arise, O Compatriots” for Ndani Sessions. In November 2012, she collaborated with Waje, Praiz, Timi Dakolo and Pamela Egoh on the Ovation Red Carol theme song “Higher”. Savage started recording her debut studio album Once Upon a Time in 2010. She held an album listening party at the Wheatbaker Hotel in Ikoyi in May 2013. During the listening party, she revealed the entire track list of the album and announced Iceberg Slim, Sarkodie and General Pype as featured acts. The album was released to the Nigerian public on 3 July 2013. It was released on iTunes a day before its official release. Savage named the album Once Upon a Time in order to portray the positive stories about her life. She said she wanted to motivate other upcoming artists by telling them that, once upon a time, she was a little girl in Isale Eko who dreamt of being a star. The album was supported by seven singles—”Kele Kele Love”, “Love Me (3x)”, “Without My Heart”, “Ife Wa Gbona”, “Folarin”, “Olorun Mi” and “Eminado”. It also includes political songs like “Middle Passage”, which is about the struggles of African men in a foreign country. Once Upon a Time was nominated for Best Album of the Year at the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. It was also nominated for Best R&B/Pop Album at The Headies 2014.
Savage has been involved in many youth empowerment and breast cancer screening projects across Nigeria. She helped raise money for an organisation that builds schools in her hometown. Savage signed an endorsement deal with MTN Nigeria in July 2013, reportedly worth ₦30 million.She also signed endorsement deals with Pepsi, Forte Oil and Maggi.
Collaborations
Tiwa Savage performing at GTBank’s Annual Year End Concert in December 2014
On 31 January 2014, Savage released the Spellz-produced “Love in Yellow” in celebration of Valentine’s Day. The song has elements of retro R&B and funk. Savage was featured on Reekado Banks’s 2014 single “Turn It Up”, which was produced by Don Jazzy. On 1 May 2014, Mavin Records released the Don Jazzy-produced “Dorobucci”, featuring vocals from Savage, Don Jazzy, Dr SID, D’Prince, Reekado Banks, Korede Bello and Di’Ja.
On 19 May 2014, Foston Musik premiered the Savage-assisted remix of Patoranking’s “Girlie O”. The song was produced by WizzyPro. The music video for the song was shot and directed in London by Moe Musa. On 7 June 2014, Savage performed at the 2014 MTV Africa Music Awards alongside Miguel, Flavo
In June 2014, Savage collaborated with Mi Casa, Lola Rae, Sarkodie, Diamond Platnumz and Davido on “Africa Rising”, a song for DStv’s campaign of the same name. The campaign was created to inspire Africans to partake in community-based social investment projects. The accompanying music video for “Africa Rising” was shot and directed by South African production house Callback Dreams. The artists performed the song at the Africa Rising launch ceremony in Mauritius.
On 19 December 2015, Savage released her second studio album R.E.D, which is an acronym for Romance, Expression and Dance. The album features guest appearances from Don Jazzy, Olamide, Dr SID, Iceberg Slim, 2face Idibia, D’Prince, Busy Signal and Reekado Banks. It was primarily produced by Don Jazzy, with additional production from Baby Fresh, Altims, Spellz and P2J. The album was supported by two singles: “My Darlin” and “Standing Ovation”. Its deluxe edition was released in February 2016 and features guest vocals from Wizkid and P-Square.
In June 2016, there were reports in the media that Savage had signed a management and publishing deal with Roc Nation. On 29 July 2016, she made it official by announcing the deal through her Instagram account, making her the first Nigerian artist to be signed to the label.
International Scene
Savage performed on the Liberty Stage of Jay Z’s Made in America Festival. During her performance, she brought out Young Paris for a performance of “Best of Me” (Remix).Savage released her debut EP Sugarcane on 22 September 2017. It features collaborations with producers and guest artists such as Wizkid, Spellz, Baby Fresh, Maleek Berry and P2J. It explores themes of love and was recorded in English and Yoruba. Sugarcane was nominated for Best Album of the Year at the 2018 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. Savage revealed to The Fader magazine that she did not have any plans to release the EP, but decided to put out the project after recording so much music for her upcoming album. Sugarcane is a mixture of Afropop, funk, house, pop music, R&B and trap.
On 24 August 2018, Savage headlined a concert at The O2’s Indigo venue. General admission tickets sold out hours before the event. The concert featured additional performances from Don Jazzy, Reekado Banks, Di’Ja, Dr SID, WSTRN, Awilo Longomba, Mystro and the Alternate Sound Band. Prior to the concert, Savage held a pop-up shop on Berwick Street. In November 2018, Savage won Best African Act at the 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards, becoming the first woman to win the category. Savage released the melodic track “One” on 15 November 2018. Produced by Killer Tunez, it touches upon themes of gratitude. Akinpelu Oluwafunmilayo for Legit.ng described the song as an “Afrobeat song with a soft tempo and smooth rhythmical flow”. On 2 December 2018, Savage performed at the 2018 Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100, which took place at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. News about her performance at the festival was first reported in July 2018.
On 13 March, Savage was added to the lineup of artists who performed at the 2019 Wireless Festival. On 2 May 2019, Universal Music Group announced the signing of Savage to a seven-year publishing and distribution deal. It was also revealed that she left Mavin Records. Efe Ogbeni of Regime Music Societe and Vannessa Amadi-Ogbonna will be responsible for executive producing all of her projects under the label. Savage’s future music will be released through the label’s operations in more than 60 countries.
In July 2019, Savage was featured on “Keys to the Kingdom”, a track she co-wrote for Beyoncé’s soundtrack album The Lion King: The Gift. She appeared on the track alongside Mr Eazi.
On 5 September 2019, Savage released “49-99”, her first single with Motown Records. The song references the line “49 sitting, 99 standing” from Fela Kuti’s 1978 hit “Shuffering and Shmiling”. Described as a blend of Afrobeat, R&B and pop music, “49-99” features syncopated percussion, humming background harmonies and crisp snares. The Meji Alabi-directed video for “49-99” features colorful imagery and symbolism. One of the video’s scenes references the iconic portraits of Congolese schoolgirls taken in 1972 by photographer Eliot Elisofon. Another scene, in which Savage is laid out with lengthy braids, is reminiscent of Diana Ross’ flower-accented look from the late 1960s.
Future Prospects
To be nicknamed the Queen of Afro beat is not an easy feat to achieve. Tiwa Savage has, over the years made herself an icon for young ladies who want to be part of the music industry to emulate. She has selflessly helped build schools and done solicitations on behalf of the less privilege and this has earned her a spot on this list. This shows that going forward she will be part of the crew to engineer the next wave of Nigerian middle class and celebrities. Thank your for being you, Tiwa Savage.