By Anita Eboigbe
Abuja – A fast-rising artist, Tonton Raymond, on Tuesday said funding and lack of infrastructure were the bane of upcoming artists in Nigeria.
Raymond told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that with proper funding, what an artist could achieve will be limitless.
“Money is always a major challenge for most upcoming artists and that is why I needed to crowd-fund my musical show and call-in many favours to meet the budget for the show.
“I had to risk trying out crowd-funding for my musical concert tagged ‘Live On The Line’ in Abuja.
“I felt the usual anxiety while raising funds for the show but said within me that failure is the worst thing that can happen and there is nothing wrong with failing.
“Then the donations started coming and my optimism was rooted in the fact that I have people willing to support me,” he said.
Raymond said that there were many and various talents in Nigeria, adding that they needed the right funding to showcase their craft.
He said that there were skilled producers, instrumentalists, bands, musicians, photographers, videographers, dancers, and other creative spaces full of highly skilled artists.
Raymond, however, said that funding was a major hindrance to what many people needed to do, adding that it was the reason they tried out many things like the ‘Live on the Line’ concert to make a headway.
He added that infrastructure to help them earn from their creativity would go a long way for upcoming artist to make a headway.
Raymond said that he was motivated to crowd-fund his music show as he wanted to experience real life reactions to his music, adding that the Abuja music space was none conforming and unique in sound and style.
He said also that he wanted a show where hip-hop was the dominant genre as it did not happen much in Abuja.as well as showed fans that the atmosphere could be right for a hip-hop-dominated concert.
The musician said that the music atmosphere in Abuja had a kind of energy that kept an artist creative.
He said that when compared to Lagos usually described as the entertainment capital of Nigeria, Abuja-based artists were pushing through and committed to letting the world understood the purpose of their unique craft.
NAN reports that Raymond shocked the world November when he hosted a once-in-a-lifetime crowd-funded music show in Abuja.
The show, entirely funded by fans of his music, was tagged ‘Live on the line’ after his extended play (EP) of the same name.
