Beyond The Beef: The True Story Behind Women’s Visibility Battle In Music

If someone stops you on the streets of Lagos today and ask you to name the “Big 3” in Nigerian music, you would most likely form the same three names it has been conditioned to chant for years, and let’s be honest, you didn’t think of a woman. Not even by accident. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Apparently, in the grand orchestra of Afrobeats, the women are still expected to hum backup vocals while the men grab the spotlight… because, well, “it’s a man’s world,” as we’ve been told since forever.
Whether it’s an unwritten “brotherhood code,” industry politics, or an audience that sometimes behaves like female success is a limited resource, the terrain is undeniably uneven, because a familiar complaint echoing through the corridors of the industry is that women simply don’t get the same support. Yet the women persist and not quietly.
From the textured depth of Waje’s vocals to Tiwa Savage’s veteran dominance, from Yemi Alade’s global stage charisma to Ayra Starr’s meteoric rise, from Tems’ Grammy-stamped cool to Qing Madi’s fresh brilliance, there is no shortage of women doing the work, carrying the culture, and shaking the table. Nonetheless, in the same breath, many others are still clawing for visibility in an industry that keeps moving the goalpost.
This week, however, the conversation took centre stage, literally. At an event centered on Power, Pay, and the Cost of Visibility for women in music, a round table of heavyweights: Tiwa Savage, Waje, Sasha, Teni, and Yemi Alade, sat down to talk about the realities behind the glitz. Teni openly pleaded for an increase in booking fees for female artists. Not because they want “extra, just because they’d like to be paid the same for doing the same work.
Then came Tiwa Savage’s clarification, a gentle slap to public assumptions. On the OOF-AIR podcast, she reminded everyone that despite the tired fantasy of “women beefing,” she has actually collaborated with more female artists than most of her critics can list. But of course, the audience prefers the age-old Nollywood plot: women don’t get along, and that is why they aren’t thriving. How convenient.
Maybe the real culprit is an industry that hasn’t fully figured out how to value its women beyond aesthetics and occasional applause. But who knows? In a country where we still argue about who the “Big 3” are (as though the list is carved on the walls of Mount Sinai), expecting the same energy for female artists might be asking for too much.