AFROBEATS STARS

Suella Braverman’s Home Office accused of “slavery mentality” after denying dozens of visas to stars.

THE HOME Office has denied dozens of Afrobeats stars visas to perform in Britain.

Artists and producers warn the hostile environment against the world’s fastest-growing music genre risks top names boycotting the UK.

An investigation by The Voice found that Suella Braverman’s department stopped at least 20 artists from entering the UK to perform at Afrobeat festivals.

Music insiders say West African artists are treated with more suspicion despite being part of a multi-million dollar industry, and when visas are granted to stars, their dancers have been turned down.

Afrobeat stars fume that Britain is the hardest embassy in the world to deal with, and they are routinely given short stays of just two weeks which prevents them from making the most of their visits.

Music lovers say this is the biggest attack on a Black music genre by British authorities since dancehall in the 1990s.

Ghanaian singer Ishmael Nii

Arday Ankrah, known as Nii Funny, who had a visa application refused in 2021, told The Voice: “It is not fair for them to treat us that way because the UK is our former enslavers so if we are going there to play a show, I think they have to support us.”

Mr Ankrah’s management team insists they submitted all the right documents but Home Office officials turned the application down after questioning why his UK-based sponsor had so much money when they were so young.

The singer was aware of numerous African artists having their visa applications denied who are not willing to publicly speak about it as there is a stigma attached to visa refusals from Britain – which many believe will tarnish their brand and reputation.

Being refused entry to the UK can also have a negative impact on other overseas trips.

He said he was only given two

by Sinai Fleary

weeks on his last visa which put limitations on his plans.

“When I got to the UK, I performed at the Kente Festival and the way the crowd were responding to my songs, I loved it and I feel like I could stay more than the two weeks.

“People have been calling me for shows here and there but my time was limited.”

Mr Ankrah wants artists granted a minimum of three months stay, so they are able to build on the momentum and excitement surrounding African music.

Christian Borquaye, inset below, who manages three prominent African artists and is based in Birmingham, said he personally knows at least 20 artists who have been refused visas and had “their money taken by the Home Office”.

“The criteria that they are giving the artists to come here is quite demanding. An artist who is trying to climb the ladder has to pay visa fees and there is no guarantee he is going to get that visa.”

Mr Borquaye, whose showbiz name is Hunta, said he now plans to shoot the majority of his music videos in Ghana instead of the UK.

Emmanuel Boakye Bidewtey, is the CEO of Livenewsgh Creative Hub, and is also an artist and event manager based in Ghana.

He told The Voice Ghanaian artists want to travel to Britain for festivals and concerts but says the British embassy has been dubbed “the most difficult embassy to work with”.

He says he knows of five African artists who have recently had their UK visa applications denied and, since the start of 2023, one artist has been prohibited from travelling to Britain.

“We had a collaboration with an artist in the UK and there was a show that we really wanted to be on, but the process was like hell.”

Mr Bidewtey, known as Zolla Nie, said three of the recording artists he works with were nominated for awards at the UK Ghana Music Awards last year and wanted to perform and thank their UK fans for nominating them, but their visas were not issued, which left them “devastated”. for the first time in 2020, with

He says it is no secret that “Afrobeats artists go through a lot of stress to acquire a visa to the UK” and believes applications from African artists are treated with more suspicion with their documents doublechecked.

Mr Bidewtey said that “Afrobeats is the music that sells Africa”, which pop stars now freely tap into, but West African artists are losing out financially by not being able to travel to the UK.

Renowned African artists like Burna Boy, Davido, Fuse ODG, Wizkid, Yemi Alade, Stonebwoy, Rema, Asake and Shatta Wale all have huge international fanbases, appeal and acclaim, which is helping to propel African music genres to the top.

In the UK, the rise of African music has directly resulted in the launch of the landmark official Afrobeats music chart.

Each week, the UK’s 20 most popular Afrobeats songs — based on sales and streams across a seven-day period — are compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC).

‘PROBLEMS’:

Article Wan which has been undoubtedly driven by Britain’s African and Caribbean community, the UK is now being seen as a key market for artists to tap into.