7 ground-breaking collaborations in the African creative industry

What’s better than two or more artistic, creative geniuses coming together to pour their creativity and expertise into a body of work? Nothing. That’s the power of collaboration. 

In the creative industry, collaborations can be very explosive and life-changing. It’s about merging ideas, syncing execution, and delivering a spectacular body of work, together. The benefits are almost endless. Greater quality of work, larger reach, and a chance to learn, and network in your industry and beyond. 

Still not convinced? Here’s a list of collaborations in the creative industry that blew me away.

Black Sherif & Burna boy- Second Sermon

This 2021 bop features one of Ghana’s finest and top-rising acts, Black Sherif alongside Grammy award winner Burna Boy. When this remix dropped, it marked a cultural moment for Afrobeats lovers all around the world. A perfect fusion of Afrobeats, hip-hop, and rap. Both artists brought their A-game, the sync in their sound ensured that this song was a winner.

So far, it has topped the charts on Apple Music, retaining a spot on their Top 100 Nigerian chart, four months after. No doubt, this gives upcoming Black Sherif a significant head start in the African music industry

Basket Mouth- Horoscopes Album

 Two years after his debut album Yabasi, BasketMouth released another album, featuring MI Abaga, Buju, Peruzzi, Oxlade, The Cavemen, and Falz amongst others. After over two decades as an accomplished solo comedian, and actor, he’s exploring his knack for music and what better way than with the finest musicians in Nigeria? The album currently features on Apple Music Afrobeat Hits and has marked Basket Mouth as a talented artist/A&R to look out for in the industry.

Busta 929 & Mpura ft Zuma, Mr. Jazziq, Lady Du and Reece Madlisa – Umsebenzi Wethu 

Busta 929 gave 2020 a good exit, with this powerful collaboration that featured five other brilliant artists. No wonder the song is still making rounds on charts, almost two years later. This collaboration opened up Busta 929 to a new territory in the African music industry as an upcoming act, earning him award nominations at the AFRIMMA 2021 for Best Newcomer.

YouTube: Nella Rose, Adeola Patronne, and Mariam Musa

These three famous UK YouTubers found a way to integrate their friendship, content, and work together in a spectrum. For YouTube collaborations, originality is a very key feature and these women have managed to hack it.

From creating content together to growing their individual channels, and securing joint collaborations as a team with Glamour magazine. Every video with this trio shows how much they understand the assignment.

FK & Jola of ISWIS podcast and TollyT of the Receipts podcast

One thing about the ISWIS duo is that they’ll give their audience a great episode. This time, their guest is ⅓ of The Receipts podcast; Tolly T. The 1 hr 52 minutes episode, followed these three women, narrating their shared experiences as Nigerian women, whilst having a good laugh.

Before this collaboration, podcast crossovers weren’t a big deal in Nigeria, but subsequently, this has inspired a couple of other podcasters to borrow a leaf out of their book.

Bola Montana & Stylesenami

What happens when two stylish content creators come together in a fashion collaboration? See for yourself. For international women’s day this year, Stylesenami and Bola Montana came together for a styling video collaboration. In the 18 seconds reel, they switched into four different coordinated outfits, showing us that indeed, TWO is a better number than one when it comes to fashion. 

The Echelon Editorial- Lexash, Style Territory, Mayoks Micheal, ThinkAkanni, Fifographer, and Others     

 For this creative masterpiece, ace photographer Lexash teams up with Style Territory, and a list of models, fashion brands, and assistant photographers.

The pictures tell a story of the upper class, high society, and their love for grandiosity, often marked by high fashion pieces. The lead stylist for the project Teni Oluwo aka Style Territory, coordinated the outfits so well that each piece portrayed a distinct perspective, and together created a perfect sync. From the models’ charisma, as they told stories through the camera, to the styling and overall quality, there’s no doubt that this collaboration was a well-executed one. 

Models:

@adedola_po

@mide.lkuomola

@mannie_be

@mZ_jesi

@funke_williams

Polka dot outfit- @bkslagos

Male suit and Agbada – @rogue_ng

Pink Dress body suit with long train worn by Mide

@rikaotobyme

Afrocentric look – Custom made @sgtcclothing

Grey Ball dress – @3and4fashion

Photography Assists: @thinkakanni and @thefifographer

Styling Assists: @mayoks_michael and @dmn_mor

Makeup: @flawlesstouchbymia

Styling & Production: @style_territory

Story, Creative Direction & Photography: @thelexash

The future of the creative industry relies on mining individual talents as well as harnessing strategic collaborations. Thankfully, a lot of creatives are hopping on that train already. We can’t wait to see what they do next.