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People refused to invest in me –Tiwa Savage

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People refused to invest in me –Tiwa Savage

Supreme Mavin Dynasty (SMD) and Roc Nation signee Tiwa Savage revealed in an interview in this week’s edition of CNN ‘African Voices’ that when she decided to leave her base overseas to come pursue a career in music here in Nigeria, people didn’t want to invest in her, because they thought she would turn out not to be lucrative.

“When I first moved to Nigeria, I got a lot of people discouraging me about being a female artist, and a lot of people didn’t want to invest money or time because they didn’t think I was lucrative…. Female artists are huge in other parts of the world. It shouldn’t be different in Africa.” Tiwa said in the interview.

She also told ‘African Voices’ how her career started when she was 16-years-old, singing back-up vocals for the late pop star George Michael in an experience that not only allowed her to move to Los Angeles in the United States, but also collaborate with other notable musicians such as Akon, Kat Deluna and Fantasia.

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But despite all the experience she was gaining abroad, the mother of one revealed that the response she got whenever she introduced herself as a West African from Nigeria, made her decide to come back home to further her career.

“I worked with a lot of people, and they would be interested by my name… ‘Where’s that from?’ I’d say it’s Nigerian, West African, and they’d say, ‘You’re African?’ and fascinated that I was straight from the Motherland… This was a light-bulb moment. These people were interested in Africa, and here I was running from it.”

Now regarded as one of Nigeria’s finest female vocalists, Tiwa says her life has changed for the better ever since she chose to take return to her roots. “It’s overwhelming, as well. My family is from here… It’s a great feeling, but sometimes you really just want to run, get something and go back home.”

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