Have you all noticed that Nigerian artistes do sing well, but when it comes to live performances they are zero. most foreign artistes go on tour and have live perfomances with bands. even if they take a dj, the dj plays only the instrumentals and the artiste performs to the music.

But have you noticed that majority of our artistes that we make noise about only mime at shows. they go on stage, the dj plays their cd and the artistes just mime. See guys like 2face, Styl Plus etc, they all mime. That is very poor.

What do you think can be done to improve live performances in Nigeria?

Too bad,maybe somb'dy wrote d lyrics 4 dem
Dey need 2 learn hard, except 4 some very few.

They need to learn, that's all. Artists like JayZ perform wonderfully and with creativity on stage but most of their songs were composed by someone else. so that doesnt matter.

Nigerian artists are probably just being lazy.

Maybe if you provide them with the proper instruments required to produce good music, they would improve. Atleast they are within the zone of proximity. Generally speaking does nigeria have all the technology needed to support these artist? Do these artist and their managers, record label etc have the resources to accomodate a live band etc while they tour? Most of these american artist you talked about are usually provided with everything they need from an RV, make up artist, ward rope, dancers etc. All they do is just sing. But when you compare to our local artist, they are the ones funding every lil thing. The lil money the are paid to perform, they really need to manage hence they don't do anythiing so fabulous or exuberant.

They need to learn, that's all. Artists like JayZ perform wonderfully and with creativity on stage but most of their songs were composed by someone else. so that doesnt matter.

are you sayin that jay-z has other people to write most of his songs?

from what ive seen the "singers" are not even good in the 1st place. they sound good on records because of voice enhancers in the studio. so when they sing live you see how poor there voice is.

ive seen 2 face live and he was good

na dough they cause am. most of these artist don't really have enouf doe so get equipments required for such shows.so nor b thier fault

na lie ! forget equipment now jay-z concert is always wack as usual. ive seen 2face on tele i think hes ok wit time they can always get better my friend so ur point has no base! nonesense

Bayouze:

are you sayin that jay-z has other people to write most of his songs?

You can look it up online.

@superman.
You dont have to be aggressive. You've not even been to a 2face show live! I was at Jay-Z's Encore and also some other black american concerts, I've also been to a number of nigerian concerts. Nigerian artists aren't really zero at live performances (maybe some sha) but they could always improve.

naijafan

i dnt get you on that"u dnt have to be aggressive" which kind aggressive dey there! well can someone tell what agressive there. ahaa na waa oo.

again most of the time jay-z come over to london his concert is as wack as ever full of india boys and white people.

superman, its true u r gettin aggressive. these artistes are not at their best truely, but they can get better if they can improve themselves. i really think, if u are a good singer, no need for best of technology b4 u get appreciated.
anyway, nigerian artistes are comin up big time and these artistes nid all encouragement they can get.

thanks kkutecolo.

Eastcoast:

Maybe if you provide them with the proper instruments required to produce good music, they would improve. Atleast they are within the zone of proximity. Generally speaking does nigeria have all the technology needed to support these artist? Do these artist and their managers, record label etc have the resources to accomodate a live band etc while they tour? Most of these american artist you talked about are usually provided with everything they need from an RV, make up artist, ward rope, dancers etc. All they do is just sing. But when you compare to our local artist, they are the ones funding every lil thing. The lil money the are paid to perform, they really need to manage hence they don't do anythiing so fabulous or exuberant.

Preach Eastcoast. It is ironic how some people expect so much with so little at their disposal. Honestly, I am tired of the comparison of American artists et al with ohers. Yes I am quite certain that there are way more talented singers etc in Nigeria, China, Russia, Trinidad than there are in the USA, but money talks so bullshit walks. In a nutshell they are able to work with equipment that would make J lo sounds like Whitney. People Leave It Alone,

ok if una say so! una don win for now

hey how said they are trying not hard common, Nigeria artist are doing pretty good compare b4 i think they don't have the money and the requirement but indeed we are improving and i believe we'll advace in nodistance time plz nairalanders praise nigerians artist u all don't just know how and what it takes them to produce an album, stay cool all

walaty, you're wrong.

I've opened up for 2Face, I've been at numerous performances given by other Nigerian artists, 2-Face can sing, he didn't mime at all.

www.myspace.com/rukuslive

my close friend is one of these big stars,dont ask who cause i wont tell you.one thing he always complains of is our sound.i personally think if its about talents we could stand the best in the world.he always talks about sound engineers,one blank space i ve seen,is in our sound engineering.most people that claim to be sound engineers aint,all they do is just plug the mics.singing on stage should be with the same ease as when am singing in front of you,if you grab mics in nija shows it is not the same effects,you will need to shout many times as loud to burst on our stages,and thats not good for your voice.hence,TO GET GOOD SOUNDS WE HAVE TO TRAIN MORE PEOPLE IN THE SOUND ENGINEERING FEILD.

I understand the issues, i must say that having been at concerts both in and outside Nigeria, we still have a lot of work to do.
A live performance set needs more than just music. A live band can change the way a performance is perceived i tell you. but how many artistes can afford a band? they often resort to soundtracks or miming (yes RUKUS they do mime sometimes)
Then there is sound engineering like TOLALA said. it really is a big issue. We focus too much on the artiste and not enough on the people who 'make' the artistes.
Nobody thinks that lights, graphics and effects matter much but they really do.
So you see, it's quite a whole package that needs to be looked into.
But while we're complaining, some support for our local artists please? They're doing great work and if we attend more of their concerts and support their efforts, the encouragement will go a long way to making them better.
Trust me, I know, I'm one of them.

@ Naijafan, No one ,I repeat no one writes JAY Z's rhyme for him,please get your fact right, every unabashed student of Hip hop knows that Jay Z and the NOTORIOUS BIG are the only two known hip hop artists that do not right down their rhymes, they just go into the studio and spit the rhymes from their head while listening to the beats.Go and watch FADE TO BLACK.Pharell,Rick Rubin,Kanye West and Timbaland can testify this

@ Superman, I don't know if your a JayZ fan or not but all his performances are always off the hinges, was at his concert last week @ Wembley Arena, yes it was full of White people and Asians( which concert in London isn't?) and thats because we black people don't know how to enjoy ourselves (How many so called naija boys in London that are Arsenal fans hold a season ticket?).You need to see what happened when NAS came on stage ( one of the best moments of my life!).The performance was Electric!!! JAY-HOVA THE god!!!!!

Naija artists need to get their acts together and get some equipment even if you wanna ad-lib to your songs at least put some energy to your performance!! There are notable exceptions though FEMI KUTI,LAGBAJA AND KING SUNNY ADE readily come to mind and I'm always disappointed by TU_FACE,STYL PLUS and all them other entertainer wannabees

rukus, i am speaking from what i have seen. 2face mimes mainly at shows. have you seen his abidjan tour? he even mimed there. i am not saying nigerian artistes are poor, but they could do better. blackface performs with a band at live shows and he is good. also i have seen jazzman perform with a band and he is good. but i have seen so many others that just lip sync to the music.

I'm saying I performed alongside at least 2 of the same artists you speak of and they were singing. Tuface even sang acapella. I mean give some of these people credit. Sound engineering I can understand, that does effect how one actually sounds onstage, but to say they are "miming" is a lie. Miming means that they are just lip-synching to their own music, but these people perform with their vocals lightly in the background to make their voice sound richer on stage, this is common with artists in the U.S. as well, there's nothing wrong with it.

All I'm saying is that as an artist myself I've performed and been in the venues as other Nigerian artists and they are no worse in technique than artists here in America.

yeah ! i feel you guys, our artist hear at home dont have have what it takes for a successful live perfomance both in nigeria and outside cause they do not have the venue for reasal towards the perfomance and most producers are kind of too stigy to provide a condosive avenue for its artist eg kennis music which eventually have a very negatve impact on thier artist eg 2face. they are kind of into business and contracts than looking at where they are lacking behind. its a pitty we aint gat a devoted record labell that can really stand against all these chalenges facing our local artist.

just thought you guys should read these before blaming nija artists-http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/articles/amplification.html

@topic, i dont know which naija concerts u guys attend but all the ones ive been too are off the chizzin!

ive attended shows in lagos, Abuja and London and ive never regretted it, ive seen Tuface, Styl plus, Eedris, tetuila, sound sultan, Azadus, P-square and none of these guyz have been dissapointing. what other Nigerian artistes are y'all talking about? Maybe u should name names.

@walaty, maybe u only attend open air concerts like kennis easter fiesta at Bar beach

if u really want to enjoy live perfomances, try indoors. its always more expensive but rich and classy and you enjoy yourself.

many Nigeria artises are wack! agreed! but many are of standard. if u want better cocncerts mayb u should pay 10k instead of 1k for the damn show

thank you walelead and simmy, i might not be able to watch shows for 10 grand but i still see the performances and its still the same. even at those shows, you are mimed for. check 2face's song ole featuring freestyle. how does 2face perfd you still hear the part of freestyle rapping?

i see most people blaming everything on equipments and some blaming sound engineers. have u all forgoten that rehearsal is the key to good live performance? some of those so called artist will still mess up if given the best equipments in the world. it is only in Nigeria that i see artist coming to the stage without doing sound check prior to the show, not to talk of rehearsal. tho Niaja artists are improving, but i think we have a very long way to go. being a good artist is not just about getting paid to do shows or sell records, its more about spending back on your band/crew to arcive the kind of sound quality we need in the country.

thank you o jare buckeye. make all these people dey yarn dust say na equipment and what have you not. even the likes of jay z and snoop use a band along side the d.j when they perform at live concerts

If there's any live performance i'd love 2 c, it has 2 an artiste who read music, like Dare or P-Square (choreography exclusive) or some artiste who plays some instrument, all this artiste who only hold the mic have nothing to offer ON STAGE! I don't blame them.

Someone like Sunny, Obesere and co can't mess up cos they have their band, i don't know why our hip hop artiste just go there to say things people really can't hear, no band no incentives, just their music in the background while they move they lips, so what? they can do better jare.

thank you jare christino. butthe problem is still with us. we give this people the chance. artistes and actors/producers in nigeria dish out nonsense, but we go ahead to buy these things and so they dish out more nonsense. how can you be having a live performance and be lip syncing?

oyinbo sef dey do like dat. dem dey mime well well for shows

na crowd dey make oyinbo live performance be like say e good

okay walaty, i really dont know which shows you attend, but i've been to several shows where 2face performed including mtvbaase live, front row seat and i can tell you that he did not mime. seriously, its not open to debate, i'm saying it for a fact. because firstly no artist performs his tracks as they are on the cd. he pauses to carry the crowd along, and u definitely dont hear anything in the background. and for a fact everywhere he performed ole, 2face rapped freestyles part. believe that, so do your research before posting becos not everyone on nairaland is an idiot that'll take your word for it