Nigerian Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage has rejected criticism that she does not collaborate with enough female musicians, saying her catalogue tells a different story.
In a recent appearance on the OffAir podcast, the singer revealed that she has worked with several female artistes, but those collaborations have not received the same level of promotion and attention as her songs with male artistes.
“People say I don’t feature female artistes, which is also a lie, because check the female artists in Nigeria. I’ve done the most features with other females; I have featured more female artistes than other female artistes,” Tiwa said.
She pointed to collaborations with prominent female artistes, including Waje, Simi, Efya, Becca and Ayra Starr, as evidence of her willingness to work with women. However, she questioned why some of those records failed to receive stronger industry backing.
“I have a song with Simi, a song with Efya, a song with Becca, I have a song with Ayra. The list goes on. Like, where are those songs?” she asked.
According to Tiwa, the limited promotion of some of her female collaborations has contributed to the perception that she does not support or work with other women in the music industry.
“When I feature female artists, they don’t promote the songs. So when I feature Odumodublvck, knowing it’ll give me millions of streams, they start complaining,” she said.
She argued that the lack of visibility can be discouraging for female artistes, particularly in an industry where women already face challenges securing opportunities and sustaining visibility.
The singer also questioned whether those criticising her had helped promote the records, arguing that collaboration alone was not enough if the music was not subsequently supported.
“When I dropped those songs, where were the gatekeepers? Why didn’t they promote the songs?” she quizzed.
The Grammy-nominated singer also spoke about her efforts to discourage the tendency to pit successful female artistes against one another. She cited her relationship with Yemi Alade, explaining that when comparisons between the two singers began gaining traction, she invited Alade to perform at her concert.
“When I did my concert, I pulled out Yemi Alade, because I saw that that comparison was starting to build. I called her and said sis, please come out to my show and lets do this,” she said.
Tiwa said she adopted a similar approach with Ayra Starr, whom she described affectionately as someone she loves and wants to see succeed.
Tiwa’s comments come amid longstanding conversations about the treatment of women in the African music industry, particularly the tendency to frame successful female artistes as competitors rather than collaborators.
The singer has previously spoken about the challenges she faced as a woman trying to establish herself in Afrobeats. In a 2020 interview, she described her rise as a “lone battle” at a time when relatively few women occupied prominent positions in the genre.
Unfortunately for Tiwa, the criticism over her collaborations appears to present a no-win situation. She maintained that she has repeatedly demonstrated her willingness to work with and support other female artistes, yet continues to face accusations that she does not do enough.
“There are several examples and I could go on and on but it’s like you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t, because somebody will still say… Somebody will always have something to say,” she said.
Her remarks have raised discussions over who is responsible for determining which collaborations succeed: artistes, record labels, promoters, media platforms and audiences.
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