Apple launches its month long campaign Oshe Naija (meaning Thanks Nigeria in Yoruba) to celebrate Nigeria’s rich musical history via a dedicated music portal.
Oshe Naija is an Apple music portal dedicated entirely to Nigerian music past and present available through their African Music page which was recently made available to the entire world. The portal will include new Nigerian releases, classic Nigerian albums, Artist Essentials playlists and music videos, as well as some of the biggest names in Nigerian music taking over Apple Music’s hottest Nigerian playlists – Afrobeats Hits, Naija Hits, Alte Cruise and Afrobeats Workout.
There will also be exclusive takeovers from notable artists such as producer and Mavin Records founder Don Jazzy who describes his selection as songs that “had a major impact on the growth and development of Afrobeats as a sound and culture.” Other takeovers include cultural icons beyond the music arena such as actress and producer Beverly Naya, media personality Denola Grey, fashion model Mayowa Nicholas, or UFC phenomenon Israel Adesanya among others.
The program marks an important nod to Africa’s biggest music market and the country at the forefront of catapulting African music onto the global stage. While Apple Music is still unavailable to Nigerians, it has been making efforts to connect to its artists for some time, notably via the selection of young singer Rema to participate in Apple Music’s global Up Next program and featuring DJ Cuppy as the host of the recently launched Africa Now radio program.
As Apple refines its selection for a country that has been at the center of the African music world, one hopes that it will make strides to provide access to those same contributors. In the meantime, listeners from the African nations of Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Rwanda, and Zambia among 52 other additional countries can all enjoy the remarkable history and rise of Nigerian music in honor of 60 years of Independence.
Listen to Oshe Naija content here.
