A blend of old and new Music Festival @Golden Tulips

During the heyday of Bongos Ikwue, the Benue-born highlife maestro, he was ‘the talk of the town’. So also was Onyeka Onwenu, the songstress with golden voice, and the self-styled King Sunny Ade. The works of these old music folks remind one of the good old days of highlife music.

Sadly, the present generation of hip hop buffs can hardly connect with the music of these legends either for lack of interest or their unavailability. Those who have attempted to remix them to fit into contemporary tunes and dance have not being fair enough, especially with the lyrics.

To bridge the gap, Five Star Music Limited and Golden Tulip Hotel Festac is partnering in the first ever Nigerian Music Festival also hoped to set the stage for the young to celebrate the old in a gathering of ‘who is who’ in Nigerian music.

The stage for the music festival billed for April 20, 2013 at Golden Tulip Festac Hotel will see the likes of 2Face facing his elderly kinsman; Flavour doing his thing with Onyeka Onwenu; and Kcee standing King Sunny Ade – all to the admiration of the cheering crowd, unofficial judges and consumers of Nigerian music products.

Other stars slugging it out on the centre stage include Whizkid, Ice Prince, Olamide, Pasuma Wonder, among other musicians and stand-up comedians.
Speaking at an earlier media briefing heralding the event, Kenneth Okonkwo, Kcee of the KCPresh fame, who doubles as the president of Five Star Music Limited, noted that a credible music festival was long overdue in Nigeria going by the amount and quality of music and world-class music icons the country’s music industry produces.

“We are not hosting to compete with any country; we are doing what is right for the industry because music festival will not only celebrate iconic musicians but also set the stage for healthy competition for upcoming artistes,” he said.

He hopes to woo the right partnership for more credible hosting of the event. Of course, Golden Tulip Festac Hotel, the host of the festival, is in it because of its commitment to supporting the Nigerian creative industry as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Shousha Moshen, the general manager of the hotel, says the hotel is committed to the excitement of its guests as it always opens its doors to the Amuwo Odofin host community for more fun at the hotel even with the upcoming festival.

For him, music is one export from Nigeria that is highly appreciated all over the world; hence the country deserves a sustainable music festival to further up its game and harvest more talents out there on the streets across the country.

Also speaking at the event, Emmanuel Ele, sales and marketing manager of the hotel, notes that the music festival, which appeals to the youths, is also an attempt at reawakening of cultural heritage of the country as Festac did to the whole of Africa in 1977