Every Friday since the 18th of August 2023, the 6 talents of The Sarz Academy (TSA) Class of ‘23; Perfext, Syntiat, Gimba, Pjstar, MillyMay_Pod and Charmaine L.A, have taken the stage to perform at the legendary Afrika Shrine, and on Friday the 1st of September, the stars of TSA drew the curtains on their three-week run at the historic location.
Prior to and following the release of their joint project; Memories That Last Forever 2 (MTLF 2), The Sarz Academy has been on a mission to provide a seasoned training and development program for the talents. Ranging from recording sessions, artiste, and media training, to the just concluded live performance sessions, the significance of this exposure over the year, to the career trajectory of these developing artists, cannot be overestimated.
Spearheading the grooming of the artists, Ms. Yeni Anikulapo Kuti, a proficient performer and also the first daughter of the celebrated Afrobeats legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, undertook the role of governess and instructor to the talents for three weeks. During special sessions, she was assisted by her brother and nephew, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriters Femi and Made Kuti.
The driving force behind this initiative from The Sarz Academy, in partnership with Warner Music Africa, United Masters, and 1789 MusicTech, stemmed from the need to foster a homogenous and well-rounded artistes’ development, through the understudy of showmanship, and inculcating the act of wielding powerful stage presence, to deliver commanding performances. In retrospect, there is truly no better institution to have primed and debuted the next crop of performing artists from Nigeria, than the sanctuary of the great Fela.
The closing night began with the premiere of a short documentary about the artists’ journey to the academy, learning curves, and their artistic processes. It highlighted how various producers, audio engineers, and creatives organically got into a groove with one another to craft off their individual and collective creative energy. It also featured clips of accomplished artists, producers, and industry executives like Telz, Tiwa Savage, Illbliss, BNXN, P. Prime, Sarz, Juju McLean, Bizzle Osikoya, Sunday Are, FOZA, Jumoke “The Cake” Olayiwola and Opeyemi Iredumare among others, who all took out time to mentor and provide industry, business and creative insights to the talents.
For their individual sets, supported with live music and instrumentals from the Femi Kuti-led and one of Africa’s leading bands, The Positive Force, the talents delivered a string of stellar performances. Their acts consisted of an arrangement of mashed-up songs from the catalog of legendary and contemporary Nigerian singers, and performances of their own songs as featured on the MTLF 2 album.
Starting the lineup, Pjstar brought the energy and delivered an incredible show starter. He rendered an incredible presentation of Reekado Banks’ Ozumba Mbadiwe, which carried the crowd along. His performance of Adekunle Gold’s Ogaranya, set the pace for the night to come. To close out his act, he performed a version of his song, Ready, as featured on the joint project Memories That Last Forever 2.
The next act of the night, Perfext, began his set by delivering a heartfelt ballad against a dark backdrop and a multitude of requested flashlights. He then graduated to an up-tempo rendition of Asake’s Lonely at The Top. To round up his performance, he utilized the whole stage, light effects, and the entire performing area in delivering a thrilling performance of Burna Boy’s Common Person. He concluded his standout performance with his original single, Buga
Entering the heat of the performances, Charmaine L. A opened her set with a soulful and gritty rendition of Subway by Asa. She skillfully alternated the rhythm to deliver her version of Kante by Davido and Fave. Pausing her singing for a choreography break, she seamlessly transitioned into an electrifying dance routine with Femi Kuti’s Sorry Sorry. Her presentation was accompanied by dancers who amped up and added more color and depth to her set. To close out her set, she gave a sultry performance of her song 233, earning a resounding, well-deserved round of applause from the audience.
MillyMay_Pod came out blazing on the stage with a nostalgic cover of D’Banj’s Oliver Twist, before switching melodies and instrumentals to perform a rendition of Temper by Skales. As with every act that had performed before him, he enhanced his set with backup dancers. He rounded up with a stellar performance of his song and fan fave, Body Wicked, which easily became the highlight of his set.
Whilst employing her silky vocals and donning a shimmering black number, Syntiat delivered a soulful performance of Asa’s Bibanke, she also captivated the audience with her stripped-down version of Niyola’s Toh Bad and ended with her song, Rude, as featured on the MTLF 2 album. Her sonorous performance saw the whole of the Afrika Shrine agog with frenzied energy as even the famed Femi Kuti rose from his chair to bust dance moves to her performance.
Riding the precedented wave of energy set by his co-stars, as the last performing act, Gimba’s sonorous delivery of an acapella freestyle led to an exciting rendition of Wurld’s Contagious. While recreating the heavily Juju and Fuji-inspired song, his energy and that of his accompanying dancers organically carried the whole of the Fela’s Shrine. To complete his set, he performed his song from MTLF 2, Only Man. The entire showcase closed out with him inviting his co-artistes to the stage to share a final group performance and curtain call..
Taking into consideration the quality of the performance, it is safe to say that these budding stars have come a long way into their own as fully-fledged artists and are now primed to join the leagues of talents, taking African music to a global stage. In addition to an enhanced style and fashion sense, they exhibited vastly improved stage persona and commanding sonic presence, which all conflate to demonstrate bankable signs of real-time development and traits of promising star quality.
Drawing the curtains on the enthralling performances, the night reached its crescendo, when Yeni Kuti, shared the stage with Femi Kuti to give each other their flowers for the continued legacy of their father, Fela Kuti. They also commended the artists, the band, Made Kuti, The Sarz Academy, the partners, and the audience for facilitating an avenue to effectively pass on the generational art of performing. Amidst parting words, the show closed with a flamboyant confetti and fireworks-filled encore.
Folarin is a culture storyteller and writer living in Lagos, Nigeria. He identifies as an aesthete and his words are reflective of his deep appreciation for design and the arts. Currently building a career at the intersection of tech, culture, law and the creative industry, he holds an LL.B. from the University of Lagos and is en route to the Nigerian Law School