To stay relevant as an artiste in the Nigerian music industry may seem to be a hard nut to crack but it is not a feat that is impossible to achieve. Yes we have seen cases of many talented artistes who started greatly in the music space but fell off shortly. Have you ever heard about Mavellous Benji, Black Tribe, General Pype or Blackface? Some came through with one or two hit songs or even an album that lasted for just a year or two and faded off. Even then big stars like Wande Coal and DBanj are finding it difficult to stage a comeback.
However, some pacesetters as Kcee have refused to be cowed despite the preponderance of many young talented artistes in the industry today. They stay relevant as an artiste in the Nigerian music industry with the help of some techniques their contemporaries failed to employ.
In this article, I will focus on Kcee and how he managed to stay relevant as an artiste in the Nigerian music industry.
Nigerian singer and one half of defunct music group KCPresh, Kingsley Okonkwo popularly known as Kcee alongside Presh rose to prominence on the Nigerian music scene in the early 2000s with “Shokori Bobo”. They later followed up the success of the monster jam with other singles that made it to the top of music charts.
Their reign did not last that long as the duo, between 2010 and 2011, went their separate ways and it felt like that was the end of the music journey of Kcee. Unknown to us, he had some tricks in mind he planned to use to continue to stay relevant as an artiste in the Nigerian music industry. When Davido and Wizkid were blazing in 2012, he smartly contracted them for two tracks “Okpekete” and “Pull Over” off his debut solo album. This strategy worked like magic as the album became talk of the town.
Asides working with the finest artistes, he is fond of working with super experienced music producers. This is another trick he used that same year. He called on veteran music producer, Del B and massive tune, “Limpopo” was birthed and the video, shot by one of the biggest music video production companies that ever came out of Africa, La Dupont Productions. KCee understands the great impact a beautiful video has on a good song no wonder it buzzed everywhere for almost two years. Limpopo has since then attracted almost thirty million views on YouTube. I will also never forget La Dupont – directed “Fine Face” video and what a romantic movie it is.
At a time Kcees Fine Face was reigning he collaborated, once again, with Del B for “Stand By You” which became another huge success that kept him afloat on the Nigerian music scene for a reasonable period. In 2015, Kcee used the old trick of teaming up with artistes of the moment as he teamed up with trending Olamide, Orezi and Harrysong for the making of Five Star Music in-house producer, Dr Amir -made “Reggae Blues”. This blew up again as the song was proudly performed to the frenzy of fans in most states in and outside Nigeria. His image remained visible and his voice, still heard. Don’t let us forget the singer cum music executive repeated this same method in 2020 with “Hold Me Tight” which features super talented vocalist, Peruzzi, who was then one of the most sought-after artistes in Nigeria.
It is worthy of note Kcee ‘s stay-relevant techniques include diversification. What do I mean? The veteran likes to explore different music genres. A critical look at his discography reveals he has done Dancehall, Pop, Highlife and Gyration to mention a few. And in 2022, he introduced us to a totally new genre with “Ojapiano” produced by renowned producer, Jaysynths. KCee went back to his party trick of working with the most creative and biggest directors to push his songs and contracted one of Nigeria ‘s top music video directors, Mattmax. It is a fact all heavens were let loose with the release of “Ojapiano” video.
Today, Kcee stands tall like Colossus and I don’t think he is ready to fall off that stage anytime soon because his latest single, “Show Off” featuring indigenous Igbo rapper, Zoro, is banging everywhere as we speak.
While it is the truth not every artiste has the economic power to do as Kcee does, I think one or two lessons could be learned from this case study and implemented to stay relevant as an artiste in the Nigerian music industry.
osh-ng.com 
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