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<\/div>\nGrammy award-winning rapper and social media sensation,\u00a0Cardi B\u00a0is on her way to Africa to perform for the first time on the continent in Nigeria and Ghana.<\/p>\n
The star shared a post on her Instagram page of her dancing in excitement in a private jet as she set off for the concert.<\/p>\n
\u201c1:03am drop my KK in NY on my way to Afrriiiiicaaaaaaaaaa baybeeeee!!!!!!,\u201d she wrote in the post.<\/p>\n
Last month she announced that she would be performing at the\u00a0Livespot X Festival\u00a0in Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrica. I\u2019m coming! Nigeria and Ghana,\u201d she wrote at the time.<\/p>\n
Cardi B (real name Belcalis Almanzar), broke into the music scene in 2017 with her hit single \u2018Bodak Yellow.\u2019<\/p>\n
She will be performing at the two-day festival alongside top African artists from both countries.<\/p>\n
Organized by\u00a0Livespot 360, a digital agency\u00a0based in Lagos, the festival will feature\u00a0Tiwa Savage,\u00a0Burna Boy, Shatta Wale, R2bees among others.<\/p>\n
Immense popularity<\/h3>\n
Darey Art Alade, a Nigerian singer and creative director of Livespot 360 says Cardi B was picked to headline the festival because of her immense popularity.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is one of the biggest artists in the world\u2026 It\u2019s really about her uniqueness, her star power. She has got great music and she is the girl next door character that everybody loves,\u201d he told CNN.<\/p>\n
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Cardi B has won multiple awards including a\u00a0Grammy Award,\u00a0seven Billboard Awards, and four BET Awards.<\/p>\n
Alade, who will also perform at the festival, says bringing Cardi B to Africa has been in the works since 2018.<\/p>\n
According to him, his team has been in conversation with her for months to make her trip to the continent smooth. \u201cGetting Cardi B to come is a lot because there are many moving parts. She is specific about everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The festival has organized the lighting, stage, and design of the venues in Accra and Lagos to suit the rapper\u2019s preferences.<\/p>\n
Social media excitement<\/h3>\n
Meanwhile, social media is buzzing as fans share their excitement ahead of Cardi B\u2019s first Africa performance.<\/p>\n
Darey Art Alade says he is hoping for a \u201chitch-free\u201d concert. In the past, Alade has hosted celebrities like\u00a0Kim Kardashian\u00a0and\u00a0Kelly Rowland\u00a0in Lagos, Nigeria\u2019s commercial center.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am hoping people are looking forward to having a good time with Cardi B. We are looking forward to a hitch-free festival, no incidents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking forward to this further cementing us on the world map in terms of our tourism potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ghana\u2019s \u2018Year of Return\u2019<\/h3>\n
The artist\u2019s visit to the continent comes at a time where Ghana is pushing for a more united Africa.<\/p>\n
In 2018, the West African country declared and formally launched the\u00a0\u201cYear of Return, Ghana 2019,\u201d\u00a0marking 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived in North America.<\/p>\n
The campaign encourages people of African descent, whose ancestors were victims of slave trade, to\u00a0return to Ghana\u00a0and invest in the continent.<\/p>\n
Alade, says part of extending the Livespot X Festival to Accra, Ghana\u2019s capital city is to spread love across the continent through music.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to spread the love, we have Nigerians performing in Ghana and we have Ghanians performing in Lagos as well. It\u2019s a bit of a symbiotic relationship about love and unity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It also creates an environment for international artists like Cardi B to share the stage with some of Africa\u2019s favorite music stars, Alade said.<\/p>\n
Africa to the world<\/h3>\n
Cardi B\u2019s visit to Africa is one of many from A-list music artists. Over the past years, stars like\u00a0Beyonce, Jay Z, Skepta, Kelly Rowland, and\u00a0Toni Braxton\u00a0have performed in different countries on the continent.<\/p>\n
There has also been a rise in international collaborations with African artists. Drake and Nigerian musician, Wizkid teamed up on 2016 hit \u201cOne Dance\u201d making Wizkid the\u00a0first Nigerian artist\u00a0to top the US Billboard Hot 100.<\/p>\n
In July, Beyonce teamed up with multiple African acts including Ghana\u2019s Shatta Wale, Cameroon\u2019s Salatiel and South Africa\u2019s Busiswa and Moonchild Sanelly on her\u00a0\u2018The Lion King: The Gift\u2019 album.<\/p>\n
Toye Sokunbi, a Nigerian music analyst says the internet and social media are part of why more people are paying attention to the continent\u2019s music scene.<\/p>\n
According to him, it is faster to access and share African music compared to many years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe internet, for example, has made the world smaller. This also means the synergy between African diaspora and Africans in Africa is strengthening,\u201d he told CNN.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the communication between those two arms means there is a more unified African consciousness which expands the possibilities of music,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Sokunbi, who is also the Editor-at-large for a Nigerian pop culture magazine, says the attention on the music scene can also be associated with an ongoing trend for African creativity and culture.<\/p>\n
Over the past years, there have been movies, food, and fashion collaborations from outside the continent.<\/p>\n
In August, Swedish retail giant, H&M,\u00a0partnered with South African brand\u00a0Mantsho in its first-ever collaboration with an African designer.<\/p>\n
Source: CNN<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n