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Missing a beat: Music stars absent from Nigeria’s vote campaign

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Missing a beat: Music stars absent from Nigeria's vote campaign

Nigeria’s Afrobeats resonates all over Africa, and in the West, where young people sing and dance to the rhythms of Burna Boy, Wizkid and Tems.

But when it comes to the presidential election on February 25, when Africa’s most populous democracy votes for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, its singers have gone silent.

Nigeria often makes headlines because of the Boko Haram insurgency and jihadist groups in the northeast.

But the country is also the continent’s largest economy and birthplace of a musical genre that is soaring globally.

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Afrobeats legends Burna Boy and Tems have won Grammy Awards.

Tickets to see Wizkid and Davido in some of the world’s largest concert halls are regularly sold out.

And others rack up millions of views on TikTok and collaborate with US popstars like Chris Brown, Justin Bieber and Drake.

These celebrities are loved as much as Nigerian politicians are hated.

The latter are seen by many Nigerians as impossibly corrupt and responsible for the country’s, woes from a lack of electricity to poor healthcare and education.

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Almost 40 percent of registered voters are under the age of 35, yet the ruling party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu of the APC is 70 and the main opposition leader Atiku Abubkar of the PDP is 76.

“Afrobeats stars have a huge influence on the youth. The presidential candidates don’t,” said Oris Aigbokhaevbolo, a music journalist.

But, he adds: “Big stars try their best to avoid politics, especially (in) this presidential election.”

‘Watershed moment”

Afrobeats was born in the 2000s, inspired by a mix of styles, including the music of legendary Fela Kuti, who fought his entire life against Nigeria’s corrupt leaders, and from US pop.

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“Back in time, Afrobeats singers were more political. But when Afrobeats became big business, lyrics changed,” said Aigbokhaevbolo.

Davido (C), one of the genre’s major stars, was at the World Cup closing ceremony

Until recently, songs were all about capitalism or “Naija”, which celebrates success and expensive cars, or about cheesy love and female conquests.

But mass youth-led #EndSARS protests that rocked the country in late 2020 have changed things.

“EndSARS was a watershed moment,” said the journalist.

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SARS was a controversial anti-robbery squad that became a symbol of police brutality. It spurred a movement demanding better governance.

Many Afrobeats stars came out in support of #EndSARS, either on social media or at protests themselves.

Burna Boy purchased giant billboards with the slogan #EndSARS on them.

Many Nigerian Afrobeats stars backed the #EndSARS protest movement in 2020

Davido took to the streets of the capital, Abuja, and knelt down in front of police officers.

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Wizkid, who was in London at the time, also supported the cause by joining protesters in the UK diaspora.

After the movement was violently repressed, many artists paid homage to victims of the crackdown.

Burna Boy released a song called “20.10.2020” in reference to the day where the army and police cracked down on peaceful protesters in Lagos.

But since then, the stars have gone silent, no longer publicly supporting candidates or encouraging people to register and get their permanent voter’s card (PVC).

“They are not involved,” said Osikhena Dirisu, director of programmes at The Beat radio.

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Wizkid did speak out on one occasion about the election in a wide-ranging interview with British newspaper The Guardian.

“All these old men are going out of power this time,” he said of the candidates. “They need to go to an old people’s home and chill out.”

Younger touch

“It bothers me. They were supporting EndSARS and now none of them call the youth to collect their PVC or endorse the candidate of the youth, Peter Obi,” said Ifiy, a 30-year-old Nigerian at a recent rally for the candidate.

Obi, a 61-year-old former state governor, enjoys the support of many young people, including those who were part of EndSARS. He has become a credible challenge to Tinubu and Abubakar.

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Apart from P-Square, twin artists who became popular in the 2010s with their title “Alingo”, there are few musicians who openly support Obi, according to Dirisu.

They avoid getting into politics, Aigbokhaevbolo said, because “in Nigeria, you don’t want to have enemies in power”.

On the other hand, politicians need Afrobeats. “You can’t campaign without music in Nigeria,” said Aigbokhaevbolo.

During rallies, the latest Afrobeats tunes are blasted from loudspeakers, often without any copyright agreements.

Campaigning for the February 25 election is coming to a close

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The popular songs provide much needed entertainment to motivate the crowds of supporters or people paid to be there, before candidates arrive.

Music also gives the politicians a more human touch, and even a younger touch, like Tinubu, who went viral when he started dancing to the popular song “Buga” by Kizz Daniel.

Some artists who are still unknown internationally use the opportunity of rallies to make money, like Portable, who played for the ruling party, or Timi Dakolo for the opposition.

Criticised on social media, both responded that they take cash wherever they can find it. 

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Harvey Weinstein expected in New York court after rape conviction overturned

Harvey Weinstein expected in New York court after rape conviction overturned

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Harvey Weinstein expected in New York court after rape conviction overturned

Harvey Weinstein is due to appear in state court in Manhattan on Wednesday for the first time since New York’s highest court threw out his 2020 rape conviction last week.

The hearing before Judge Curtis Farber will give prosecutors and Weinstein’s lawyers a chance to address the next steps for the former film mogul, which could include a new trial.

“Harvey is looking forward to his day in a fair court,” said Weinstein’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer.

Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate Rome, New York. He is currently at Bellevue Hospital, where he was transferred following last week’s order, according to Engelmayer.

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Jurors in Manhattan convicted Weinstein in February 2020 of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013. They are among more than 80 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.

The conviction included charges of first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape. Weinstein, who has denied having non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone, was acquitted on other charges.

The verdict was hailed as a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.

Last week, the New York Court of Appeals found that Judge James Burke, who presided over the trial, made a critical mistake by allowing three women to testify about alleged sexual assaults by Weinstein that were not part of the criminal charges against him. The court said this “prior bad acts” testimony violated his right to a fair trial.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has signaled it plans to retry Weinstein.

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“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” Emily Tuttle, a spokesperson for Bragg, said in an email last week.

The case was brought by Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance.

Regardless of whether he is retried, Weinstein is not likely to be released from jail because he was also sentenced to 16 years following his separate rape trial in California. The two sentences cannot be served concurrently.

Burke is no longer on the bench, so any retrial would be before a different judge.

Weinstein co-founded the Miramax film studio, whose hit movies included “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction.” His own eponymous film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018.

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‘Operation Madonna’: Rio readies for singer’s free mega-concert

‘Operation Madonna’: Rio readies for singer’s free mega-concert

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'Operation Madonna': Rio readies for singer's free mega-concert

Madonna’s long-awaited free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach has upended the neighborhood, with over a million fans expected — but for retired resident Mario Renato Borges, it’s the least the singer deserves.

“Welcome, Queen,” read some posters near the huge stage erected on the Brazilian beach, where Madonna will on Saturday give the biggest show of her 40-year career and the last of her “Celebration Tour.”

The 65-year-old American singer arrived in the coastal city on Monday after more than 80 shows in Europe, the United States and Mexico. This will be her only stop in South America.

The “Like A Virgin” and “Material Girl” performer traveled to Brazil with three planes and 270 tons of equipment, according to her production company.

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She has set up camp at the luxurious Copacabana Palace hotel, connected to the stage by a suspended catwalk that dozens of fans crowded under this week, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pop star.

The biggest dance floor

Thanks to free admission, organizers expect Madonna’s concert to produce the “world’s biggest dance floor” of up to 1.5 million people — a figure only reached on the same beach by the Rolling Stones in 2006.

“The traffic is chaos but the concert will be great, especially because it’s Madonna, the queen of pop,” says resident Borges, who lives in Leme, a neighborhood at the end of Copacabana Beach.

Madonna’s fourth performance in Rio will contribute some 293 million reais (US$57 million) to the local economy, an income 30 times higher than what city authorities invested, according to the mayor’s office.

Around 150,000 foreigners are expected to swarm the city, with most hotels already fully booked.

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“This will undoubtedly be one of Rio’s biggest international events. It will boost our economy and attract tourists from Brazil, Latin American and all over the world,” said the city’s Tourism Secretary Daniela Maia.

Return of the conical corset

Madonna fever is clear to see in Rio — the so-called “Marvelous City” — as the hours tick down to her performance.

At the Lix printing shop in the popular downtown Saara shopping district, the songs of the “Material Girl” are playing on loop to inspire devotees who can choose from personalized fans, hats or mugs.

Manager Livia Reis, 23, tells AFP that her store went viral on social media shortly after the concert was announced thanks to an influencer who visited the Madonna-inspired shop.

“A guy came in, took a photo and a video, and sent them to a fan club with 150,000 followers in Portugal. From there, it jumped to TikTok and Instagram,” she says.

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One particularly popular item is a replica of the conical corset created by French designer Jean Paul Gaultier, which Madonna famously wore on stage in 1990.

Sold as a bra or a top, the item is “doing very well,” says Reis, who expects there will be “queues out of the door” in the days ahead of the concert.

Patrols on the corners

“All this activity is good for tourism, hotels and restaurants. But let’s hope the security is up to the task,” says 68-year-old Rio local Borges.

The mayor’s office has prepared an operation equivalent to New Year’s Eve celebrations in Copacabana, one of the most famous in the world that typically brings down some one million people.

“Operation Madonna” will see some 4,500 agents deployed, working with drones and facial recognition cameras. There will be police patrols on almost every street corner in the neighborhood.

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Nagila Alves, 54, who works for a pest control company, was on her way to a client’s home when she stopped to take a photo of the impressive stage set up for Madonna.

“I will always love her. Madonna is timeless,” she tells AFP, adding she plans to delay her arrival on Saturday to dodge the crowds swarming to the front of the stage.

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Selena Gomez on social media: ‘I find it frustrating’

Selena Gomez on social media: ‘I find it frustrating’

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Selena Gomez on social media: 'I find it frustrating'

Selena Gomez feels frustrated by social media. The 31-year-old star has a huge online following, but Gomez often takes breaks from social media platforms to escape the negativity.

The brunette beauty – who has more than 400 million followers on Instagram – said at the TIME100 Summit: “I find it frustrating. Then I get a little mouthy and I want to defend the people I love.”

Gomez believes it’s important to take breaks from social media to retain a sense of perspective.

The actress – who is currently dating record producer Benny Blanco – explained: “I took four years off of Instagram, and I let my team post for me for those years. I felt like it was the most rewarding gift I gave myself.”

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Meanwhile, Gomez previously claimed that there’s “so much strength in being vulnerable”.

The Only Murders In The Building star has spoken openly about her mental health struggles over recent years, and Gomez admitted that she’s found it to be a “very freeing” experience.

She told Wondermind: “I don’t love giving advice because I don’t have all of the answers.

“I’d say, though, find a friend or a family member you feel comfortable talking with and open up about what you are feeling. It’s very freeing to open up to someone. There is so much strength in being vulnerable.”

Despite this, Gomez doesn’t have any regrets over how she’s dealt with her own struggles.

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The actress – who first found fame as a child – explained: “I try and not look back and wish anything could have been different. What I am happy about is that more people are opening up about their mental health.”

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