Africa’s Most Promising Art Talents Named

By Ogova Ondego
Published March 26, 2021

The 10th annual edition of The African Dream arts market online (e-Arts Market) has named its three winners in 2021.

The three talents who were picked out of  214 artists who were identified and out of who 10 made it to the shortlist are Congo-Brazzaville’s Fanie Fayar (3rd), South Africa’s Laliboi (2nd) and Niger’s spoken word performer Jhonel (1st).

Jhonel, the overall winner of the contest, is reported to have been fascinated by words from a young age and that his inspiration comes from Nigerian griots and storytellers.

“In his texts, Jhonel … tackles subjects specific to the daily life of Nigeriens in urban areas: the difficulties of day-to-day existence, the hypocrisy of the wealthy, traditional practices, love relationships, and the ups and downs of contemporary history.”

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What is more, The African Dream says, Jhonel’s “talent as an orator has already taken him on tour in the United States, France, Africa and Canada, then to publish two collections of poetry with the Harmattan publisher.”

Jhonel is looking for a manager, a booking agency and a promoter.

The second ranked talent, Laliboi of South Africa, is described as “an eGcuwa trumpet rapper from the Eastern Cape Province [who] immerses you in all the beauty of the Xhosa language. During his career, he has received the support of his peers such as Malcolm Jiyane, Ayanda Zalekile and Mthunzi Mvubu at the Academy of Music and has carved out a place for himself in the world of live music. ”

Laliboi is looking for a manager, a publisher, a booking agency and a promoter.

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Fayar, who is ranked third in the talent search contest, specialises in Pop, Soul, Folk and Funk music.
Nicknamed ‘The Queen of fusion’, ‘the voice of Congo river’ and ‘the golden voice’, Fayar is a singer, dancer and writer of music who is in need of a booking agency.She plays several instruments and is the winner of the 8th Francophone Games and Knight of the Order of National Merit by Republic of Congo President Dénis Sassou N’guesso.

According to Le Rêve Africain (The African Dream) who organise the annual event, the discovery of the artists is done by a committee who shortlist nominees and then put the list to the public vote online through the African Dream’s Afro Pepites Show in order to get its three Pepites every year.

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Saying the listeners’ committee shortlists contestants on the basis of their originality, quality and commitment, African Dream says it is internet users who vote for their favourite artists from the short list.

“The selected pepites benefit from our communication network and for some of them our artistic management skills,” African Dream says.

The organisers say they have widened their communication networks and sensitised artists on the Internet and in the field to harvest a new artistic bunch dedicated to:

• Professionals of culture willing to highlight new talents (media, managers, producers, publishers, organisers, distributors, booking agencies…), and
• Internet users interested in discovering new cultural trends.
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  “The African Dream is an ethic founded on social and cultural values and embodied in all the lovers of Africa who share its cultural treasures,” the organisers say. “The African Dream network promotes exchanges of cultural projects from Africa, the Caribbean, Jamaica, Haiti, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba … or any other projects inspired by Africa. Every year we select three projects thanks our e-Art Market that we support internationally.”