As part of activities leading up to the Music Week Nigeria Conference (MWN 2020) holding between the 5th and 8th of August 2020, music industry pioneers Kenny “Keke” Ogungbe and Dayo “D1” Adeneye were on Sunday honoured during a virtual tribute event. Hosted by entertainment entrepreneur Ubi Franklin, the event had in attendance industry icons such as DJ Jimmy Jatt, Obi Asika, Sasha P, Emem Ema, Audu Maikori, 2baba and many others whose careers and businesses have been impacted by the legendary Kennis Music duo.
Speaking during the event, singer Innocent “2baba” Idibia paid homage to Ogungbe and Adeneye highlighting the impact of their guidance and investment on his music career. 2baba who is most remembered for his iconic single “African Queen” noted that it would be impossible to talk about the Nigerian music industry, especially in its current form, without laying testament to the important work done by Kennis Music and its founders to give prominence to Nigerian music.
On his part, Audu Maikori, Convener of the Music Week Nigeria Conference noted that the Kennis Music founders were being honoured because “as a music industry, we owe an enormous debt to the vision and sacrifice of Kenny Ogungbe and Dayo Adeneye; who paved the way for many of us to be where we are today as a music industry”. Continuing, Maikori said, “it is due to the hard and painstaking work done by Keke and D1 that Nigerian music has become the mainstay not just on our airwaves but on various platforms globally.”
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Music Week Nigeria is a unique music business conference aimed at creating an enabling environment for the music industry to thrive and contribute to boosting the Nigerian economy. Speakers for the conference include Mr Eazi, Yemi Alade, Segun Awolowo, Jean-Elie Ilunga, Mulika Sannie, Steve Babaeko, Sandra Oyewole and others. Panels will delve into topics highlighting the roles of lawyers, brand managers, publishing companies, policymakers etc in aiding the growth of the Nigerian music talents and the overall industry.
In her statement, a member of the MWN 2020 team, Barrister Chinenye Uwanaka of Firma Advisory promised attendees impactful deliberations during the conference saying “We have worked tirelessly to galvanize and converge all the critical stakeholders in the Music Business and all the service providers that support the industry.” She added that though the Music Industry has brought Nigeria so much pride, entertainment and revenue, it still requires better support for it to thrive; “Intellectual property will be our biggest export as a country instead of oil, however, we need the right policies and laws to properly harness the potential of this industry.”
