(Joeboy. Photo Credit: Billboard)
Afrobeats artist Joeboy has spoken out about what he sees as a growing ego problem undermining collaboration among Nigerian musicians.
In a recent interview on Cool FM Lagos, alongside fellow artist Wizkid Chan, he observed that some artists enter collaborative projects with a competitive attitude, more focused on upstaging their partner than creating something great together.
Joeboy said he deliberately chooses to work with people he already has a genuine friendship or rapport with, as it eliminates the tension that ego can bring.
He added that when he features another artist on a song, his expectation is actually for that artist to shine because that is precisely the point of bringing them on board.
Wizkid Chan echoed similar sentiments, describing ego as his biggest frustration with collaborations.
He said his personal approach is to give his collaborators full creative freedom when recording, and he expects the same courtesy in return.
According to him, some artists overstep by trying to direct how their collaborators should perform, which he finds counterproductive.
He stressed that the whole purpose of featuring someone is to bring a different dimension to a track something the other artist can do that you cannot and that it should never be treated as a competition.
He also pointed out that some artists go as far as rewriting their own verses after hearing a collaborator’s contribution, simply because they feel outdone, which he described as entirely missing the spirit of what collaboration is meant to be.
