The inaugural Giants of Africa Festival, in celebration of the non-profit’s 20th anniversary, was a week-long festival held in Kigali, Rwanda, which brought together youths from 16 countries and used basketball as an educational and empowerment tool.
Fans thronged the BK Arena on Saturday 19 August, for the closing concert, presented by Spotify. The full house was expectant and Davido, Tiwa Savage, Tyla, and Bruce Melodie thrilled the pan-African audience with unforgettable performances.
Tyla, a Spotify Africa RADAR artist was first on stage as she showcased her Amapiano infused with Afrobeats, pop, and R&B style-music. She kicked off her performance with her collaboration with Kooldrink, 'Getting Late', which is also her most streamed track, according to Spotify data.
Rwanda’s Bruce Melodie took the stage next, starting with his collaboration with Khaligraph Jones, 'Sawa Sawa', which is his second most streamed track on Spotify. Over the twenty-minute performance, Bruce transported the fans through his musical catalog, from 'Ikinyafu', 'Saa Moya 7:00,' and 'Funga Macho.'
The most anticipated performance of the afternoon, Davido took to the stage next and opened with 'Over Dem', from his recently released record-breaking fourth album 'Timeless'. Davido then transported the audience back in time with hit after hit, including 'Dami Duro', 'FIA', 'Jowo', 'If', 'Fall,' and 'Risky' among others.
The showmanship continued, performing 'High', 'Ke Star', and 'Champion Sound'. Finally, the moment for his most viral song arrived; 'Unavailable', Davido’s most streamed song on 'Timeless', and the most exported track among 18 -24-year-olds, soundtracking many dance videos.
The Queen of Afrobeats, Tiwa Savage was the final act on the Giants of Africa stage. '49-99', one of her most playlisted songs on Spotify, opened her performance. 'Ma Lo', her second most streamed song was next, followed by a string of other hits including 'KEYS TO THE KINGDOM', 'Like', 'Pick Up,' and an acapella version of 'Somebody’s Son'. 'Who Is Your Guy' was a crowd favorite, as was her most streamed song on Spotify, 'Koroba'. Closing off with 'Stamina', Tiwa’s performance showed why she is still the undisputed queen of Afrobeats.