American business magazine, Forbes Magazine, has released a compilation
of its top 10 African richest musicians. African entertainers like,
Jidenna, Akon, Wizkid, Tinashe, Davido, Don Jazzy and Sarkodie, made it
to the list.
Forbes Africa list was put together using
factors such as endorsement value, popularity, show rates, sales,
awards, YouTube views, appearance in newspapers, investment, social
media presence, Influence and others.
Here’s the list of the artistes that made it;
1. AKON
Akon
has over 35 million albums sold worldwide. He has won numerous awards
including five Grammy Award nominations and has 45 Billboard Hot 100
songs under his belt. He tops the list according to Forbes Africa.
2. BLACK COFFEE, SOUTH AFRICA
The
multi-award-winning artist’s real name is Nkosinathi Maphumulo. He was
born in South Africa’s house music province, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and
raised in the Eastern Cape province, where Nelson Mandela hailed from,
before moving back to KZN to study music.
3. HUGH MASEKELA, SOUTH AFRICA
Hugh
was born in Witbank, east of Johannesburg. He has released more than 43
albums and performed with Marvin Gaye, Dizzy Gillespie, The Byrds, Fela
Kuti, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Miriam Makeba.
4. DON JAZZY, NIGERIA
Don
Jazzy is ranked fourth richest in Africa and also first in Nigeria.
Like many artists, his real name is Michael Collins Ajereh, and he
started playing music as a child in church before moving to the UK to
pursue his career.
5. TINASHE, ZIMBABWE-AMERICAN
Tinashe
was a child model by the age of three. The twenty-four-year-old sang
before she could talk and made her first appearance in 2000 in the film
Cora Unashamed. Her voice also starred in the cartoon feature film The
Polar Express alongside Oscar-winning actor, Tom Hanks.
6. JIDENNA, NIGERIAN-AMERICAN,
By
the age of 10, Jidenna Theodore Mobisson knew he wanted to do music but
was afraid to tell his father who wanted him to be an engineer. He is
ranked sixth according to Forbes Africa.
7. WIZKID, NIGERIA
Wizkid
is arguably currently the uncrowned king of African music. Grammy
Award-winning artist, Alicia Keys and husband Swizz Beatz, danced to his
songs Ojuelegba and Caro, with Keys posting a video on her Instagram
account with the caption, “This song makes me happy”. Kylie Jenner also
posted a video of herself dancing to Wizkid’s music on Snapchat.
8. DAVIDO, NIGERIA
Davido
has claimed a high status in just five years. He said it was people
like P-Square and D’Banj who made him believe this was possible. He
became famous for his widely acclaimed 2012 debut album “Omo Baba
Olowo”.
9. SARKODIE, GHANA
Michael Owusu Addo started out
as an underground rapper and through the help of Duncan Williams, his
former manager, his career was launched. Staying true to his identity,
he is a big advocate of Azonto, a Ghanaian genre that is said to have
been born out of Kpanlogo, a traditional dance.
His first single
off his fourth album, Mewu, sold almost 4,000 copies on the first day of
its release in Ghana. He was also the first Ghanaian to win a BET
award.
10. OLIVER MTUKUDZI, ZIMBABWE
Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi
has 65 albums under his belt, more than the legendary Michael Jackson
and Whitney Houston. It’s a remarkable career stretching back 41 years
with songs that have enlivened parties all over the world. He his ranked
10th richest musician in Africa.
