By Ayo Onikoyi

Prince Temiloluwa Bayode, popularly known in the music industry as BigTEE, has sparked intense conversation across the African entertainment landscape with his bold declaration that African Sound is sick and needs urgent revival

BigTEE, a respected music executive and brand strategist, has played a pivotal role in shaping brand positioning, PR strategy, digital promotions and creative branding for artistes and businesses through his companies Distrigency Brand and Business Solutions, Parformer and Distritunes which are all subsidiaries of The Great Unicorn Group

Speaking during a recent industry roundtable to celebrate Distrigency’s 4th year anniversary, BigTEE reflected on the journey of African music from the era of legendary pioneers like King Sunny Adé, Fela and Tony Allen to modern global icons such as Wizkid and Davido

According to him, while global recognition has grown tremendously, the essence of African sound is gradually being diluted

“Our fathers created music that carried identity, language, spirituality, percussion and storytelling. Today we have billions of streams, global tours and international deals but we are losing originality. The African sound is being watered down by excessive foreign influence in a bid to fit global commercial standards,” BigTEE stated

He acknowledged that contemporary African artistes have achieved unprecedented milestones. Afrobeats has grown by more than 500 percent in global streaming consumption over the last decade. African songs now cross one billion streams across platforms. Major albums debut on global charts and international distribution advances generate millions of dollars annually. Arena tours in Europe and North America sell out. Brand endorsement deals run into multi million dollar figures

However, Prince Temiloluwa Bayode stressed that commercial expansion has not translated into deeper cultural investment “From Juju and Afrobeat to Highlife and Fuji, our music once had depth, live instrumentation, complex rhythm structures and community rooted storytelling. Today many records are structured around foreign pop templates with minimal indigenous layering. Are we exporting sound but or we are exporting culture,” he asked

He noted that despite the high streaming numbers, album sales conversion remains low relative to audience size and long term catalogue value remains weak compared to older African classics that lasted decades without algorithmic support

BigTEE also criticized a growing culture of vanity spending within the industry “We see artistes splashing millions on luxury cars, houses, designer fashion and social media optics but not reinvesting proportionately into live bands, vocal training, cultural research, grassroots fan building or catalog ownership. Visibility is high but value is shallow. Wealth display is loud but craft development is quiet,” he said

He warned that investors are becoming cautious as return on investment becomes unpredictable. Reports within the ecosystem suggest that some singles now cost over 25000 dollars to produce and promote with little recoupment strategy in place

Music producer Ozedikus captured the concern when he stated “From my observation, every booming industry follows the same cycle. When profit margins are high, early movers make the most. As more people flood in, it gets saturated and margins shrink. It happened with formal education in our parents era. Fewer graduates instant jobs then everyone got degrees then the value got diluted. I think afrobeats is simply entering that phase now”.
He further asked “With all this talk about investors leaving afrobeats, what is really the way forward from here especially for new artists I genuinely want to know”

Similarly, Muyiwa Awoniyi also known as Don Awon, manager to Tems, revealed that in 2023 he advised Nigerians against obsessing over Apple Music Nigeria charts, emphasizing that the real focus should be on global markets where investments can be recouped and long term value built. According to him, that advice was dismissed at the time

Industry commentator Nelsun also blamed not only artistes chasing exposure but executives who allegedly mismanaged investor funds on irrelevant ventures and on acts without strong cultural or commercial foundations

Prince Temiloluwa Bayode added another layer to the conversation by raising concerns about artificial intelligence “AI systems are sampling African rhythms, chants and percussive structures as raw data. When indigenous sounds are reduced to digital patterns and reference loops, they lose spiritual and cultural layering. Our music is not just drums and tempo it is heritage, language, folklore and lived experience. When it becomes algorithm data, the soul disappears,” he said

According to BigTEE, the dilution of originality is now affecting funding, patronage and long term ownership “Investors fund what sounds globally acceptable rather than what sounds authentically African. When originality fades, cultural ownership weakens and when ownership weakens economic power follows”

So where does the revival come from? Don Awon eventually advised a return to foundational principles “Return to square one where we stopped moving just to get paid because hand to mouth is not sustainable. Build real partnerships, combine strengths, think long term. This is not easy but it is worth it if you lean on each other. The vision leads and everyone else executes their roles”

For BigTEE, revival means strategic restructuring:

• Reinvestment in indigenous instrumentation
• Long term catalog building
• Global partnerships rooted in cultural authenticity
• Financial discipline over vanity spending
• Artist development over quick fame
• Collaboration over competition

“Revival does not mean going backward. It means evolving without erasing our roots. African sound built movements long before algorithms. If we do not protect its depth, we risk becoming consumers of a diluted version of what we originally created”

As debate intensifies across the continent, one message rings clear from BigTEE Revival is not optional; but it is necessary he empasized