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CFP Aims At $50 Million Fund For African Filmmakers
To produce high-quality films that shine a global spotlight on Africa’s film industry.
WeTalkSound
October 28, 2023
Hi, Bestie. Hope you’ve had a beautiful week?
This Friday was one of the most exciting New Music Fridays in recent memory. The Prince of Afrobeats, Rema, released his fourth EP, “Ravage” which shot straight to the top of the Apple Music Charts. Uber-talented rapper, Reminisce also dropped his fifth studio album, “ATSG, Vol 1”, marking his first album in seven years since “El-Hadj”. Adding to the excitement, Blaqbonez, Basketmouth, Erigga, Mayorkun, Zoro, Skales, Lago, and Oritse Femi all unveiled their latest bodies of work.
This week’s newsletter touches on Shallipopi, the Billboard Music Awards, and the film industry. Let's Dive in.
Adim Isiakpona
1. Capital Film Productions Launches With A Mission To Build A $50 Million Fund For African Filmmakers
Capital Film Productions (CFP), a film investment firm, announced its official launch this week. It aims to support the creative engines of the African film industry, starting with Nollywood. Co-founded by Adim Isiakpona and Hamza Kassim, CFP has a clear-cut vision: to democratize movie investing and provide funding to promising filmmakers, enabling them to produce high-quality films that shine a global spotlight on Africa’s film industry.
CFP has previously invested in and supported some blockbuster films such as 'Brotherhood' and 'Gangs of Lagos.' During this period, CFP also invested in the production of soon to be released — ‘The Party’, ‘Ada – Omo Daddy’, ‘The Other Side of The Bridge’ and four (4) other films, committing a total of approximately USD 800,000, projected to hit strong double-digit returns at the end of the fund cycle. All of which is supported by a base of Nigerian investors aggregated over the period. This track record highlights the company’s approach to investment and ongoing commitment to support African storytelling talents.
CFPs’ mission is to progressively build a $50M fund in a few years while strategically partnering with filmmakers on the continent to fund African movie projects.
2. Five Ways Shallipopi Has Shocked The Music Industry
The Nigerian music industry certainly did not anticipate the emergence of 23-year-old Afro-pluto crooner, Shallipoi, born Crown Uzama, who popped into the limelight following the virality of his hit single, “Elon Musk”.
Shallipopi has grown to be a force to reckon with in only a couple of months as his songs keep doing great numbers on digital streaming platforms, at parties, and even at kiddies’ functions. It’s evident that no one had an indigenous Benin singer with the use of heavy Benin lingua, becoming the biggest breakout star in 2023 on their Bingo card, and this article spotlights several ways by which the Edo-born star has successfully shocked the music industry.
From his lyrics and slangs, to his cadence, to setting up a record label in his breakthrough year, Shallipopi is quickly adding flavor to the music industry.
3. Billboard Music Awards Introduce Afrobeats Categories.
The Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) are presented each year by Billboard. The winners are determined by performance metrics on the year-end Billboard charts, the music industry’s ultimate authority and data-driven measure of success.
This year, nine new awards were unveiled, with a focus on both the burgeoning K-Pop and Afrobeats genres. The new categories included two in the Afrobeats field - recognizing the top Afrobeats artists and song. Notably, the inaugural ‘Top Afrobeats Artist’ category featured nominations for Rema, Burna Boy, Wizkid, Tems and Libianca. In addition, Rema’s ‘Calm Down’, Ayra Starr’s ‘Rush’, Oxlade’s ‘Ku Lo Sa’, Libianca’s ‘People’ and Victony’s ‘Soweto’ were all nominated in the ‘Top Afrobeats Song’ category.
In the past year, numerous award shows have embraced the recognition of African Music. Wizkid became the first-ever winner of the ‘Favorite Afrobeats Artist’ at the American Music Awards in November 2022. The MTV Video Music Awards also crowned “Calm Down” as the inaugural winner of the “Best Afrobeats Video” category just last month. The nominees for the first-ever Grammy Award for “Best African Music Performance” are set to be unveiled on November 10.
Rema
Come Party with Us At Insert Nights - Halloween Edition.🎃
Our monthly themed event is back for this month.This edition will feature a Horror movie showing of Jordan Peele’s “NOPE”, as well as exciting games, networking opportunities and non-stop partying until past midnight.
⏲️ 7 PM, Friday Nov 3rd
📍The Corner, Plot 28, Block 77, Admiralty Way, Lekki.
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