How Alikiba regained his groove

Dar es Salaam. His return to the big stage after a sabbatical was categorised under some tired cliché of the ‘Time will tell’ by his doubters who believed he had outlived his relevancy.

Two years down the road, the same thing cannot be said about the self proclaimed King of Bongo Flava, Alikiba as he has defied odds to rise above the murky waters that threatened to end one of the greatest talents to rise in the last decade.

In a rather very competitive industry where new stars are born every day, the rewards have finally arrived with nominations at this year’s MTV Africa Music Awards and MTV Europe Music Awards.

Alikiba has been nominated for the Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards alongside Black Coffee, Cassper Nyovest both from South Africa, with Olamide andWizkid representing Nigeria making him the only nominee from East and Central Africa.

The winner of the Best African Act competes against the winner of the Best Indian act to produce the eventual winner of the Best Africa and India act category.

The MTV Europe Music Awards are scheduled to take place at Rotterdam, Netherlands on November 6.

He has also been nominated for the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA’S), which is set to be held in Johannesburg South Africa Alikiba where he is joined by other Tanzanians such as last year’s winner Diamond Platnumz and fellow debutants Navy Kenzo.

The contest lines have been drawn and it promises to be quite explosive as the nominees jostle for glory and as many artistes will tell you a nomination at that level is worth a celebration for it is a mark of excellence.

The months that followed his return have been punctuated with successful releases of great hits and collaborations that showed that he was up to the same level of business that once made him a force to reckon with.

There were moments of euphoria as certain mythical teams on the social networks threatened to tear apart the calm in the rather nascent industry.

Hits such as ‘Mwana’, ‘Chekecha Cheketua’, ‘Aje’, and collaborations in ‘Nagharamia’ with Christina Bella, ‘Mboga Saba’ with Mr Blue, ‘Unconditionally Bae’ with Sauti Sol have been a breath of fresh air to his fans.

Management

On his return, there was plenty at stake and to make his assertion of reclaiming his throne, something had to be done to achieve this redemption.

There was a more vibrant industry with other market leaders who had steered the industry to a slightly different course, the bar had been lifted and the dynamics had changed.

In the build up to his comeback in 2014, there were several behind the scenes action that analysts have credited with Alikiba’s stability and one of those was the signing of a management contract with RockStar4000.

Under the tutelage of Christine Mosha aka Seven, it was probably the launch pad for a career that was once the envy of East Africa required; everything was meticulously planned to achieve a purpose. Newspaper articles, a television and radio interviews that were all aimed at galvanizing his position at the top. Incidentally, it is the same management that has taken claim of Jaydee’s return after a two-year hiatus with a new album titled Woman whose lead single ‘Ndi ndi ndi’ has been a smash hit.

The first few months for the returnees were quite rosy but then came the Mwana video which was his first in three years; the reviews were not very kind despite recording almost 9 million views on youtube.

It was a delicate mix that required a level headed management to coast through without any scars of shame.

His detractors claimed he had plunged into the deep end without the knowhow, something that Alikiba rubbished as sheer baseless criticism that didn’t put into consideration the creative elements in the script.

His follow up videos such as ‘Nagharamia’ with Christian Bella, ‘Chekecha Cheketua’ and most recently ‘Aje’ all received positive reviews in comparison to the comeback single

Sony Music Global deal

His true moment to revel was to come in mid May 2016.

The setting was in Johannesburg, South Africa with news flash running on most websites saying ‘Alikiba signs a mega Global deal with Sony Music Africa.

This was the second biggest recording deal Sony Music Entertainment had ever offered an artiste in Africa after their engagement Nigerian superstar Davido.

This news reverberated across the whole worldwide including front page articles in mainstream newspapers as he had become the second Africa artist ever to reach that milestone.

Apart from other things, the deal entailed a digital distribution of his songs to over 230 outlets worldwide including iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, Google Music and Shazam among others.

As his legion of fans continued to digest the potential outcome of this development there was another surprise as he simultaneously launched hit single ‘Aje’ on three international TV stations, MTV, Trace and Sound City. These dealings without doubt improved the artiste’s visibility worldwide and that has been proven by the double nominations in Africa and Europe.

History is on the verge of being made, the ante has been upped, and to his fans he remains the true king of Bongo Flava who is once again one of the most sought after artiste on the continent.