The love of entertainment by millennials around the world has defined them as a generation. The study of millennials’ attraction to music, and movies globally is continuously ongoing and has remained an interesting project, particularly with reference to African Millennials.
In this article the focus is on top African millennials who have done well in the entertainment industry and at the same time, are basking in wealth.
But first let us talk about who a millennial is; A millennial is anyone born between 1981 and 1996, which is 2020 corresponds to people between the ages of 24 and 39. Like other generational cohorts, this age range isn’t strictly an identification but is instead used for the statistical study of some trends.
Beginning in the 90s, African millennials have been recognized in the world entertainment sphere, and have continued to wax stronger.
According to a PwC report, “Global Entertainment and Media outlook, the music and entertainment industry in African countries like Nigeria is expected to continue to expand with a projected 21.5 per cent growth rate (CAGR), with revenue reaching $9.9 billion.
Africans millennials are thriving in a variety of fields, including the entertainment business. They are creating waves in the music industry on a global scale. The various gifted musicians from diverse regions of the continent have made this possible. Here are some of the top African millennials ruling in the entertainment world:
Sarkodie
Sarkodie is a Ghanaian Rapper, Singer, and Entrepreneur, one of the most celebrated musicians in Ghana because of his massive contribution to the growth of the Ghanaian Music industry and putting them on the map.
Sarkodie has over the years stomped his foot as one of the greatest Musicians in the country, dropping hit songs, collaborating with top International musicians, and winning hundreds of awards, most notably he won the BET, best International flow award, making him the first African to win such an award, he also won Headies Best African Artiste of the year, Ghanaian Music Award for Artiste for the Decade, amongst many other awards and recognition.
Just as he has made musical waves within and outside Ghana, Sarkodie is also flowing in monetary waves as he has earned a lot of money from his Musical prowess, endorsement deals, and his personal business enterprise. He currently has a net worth of $11 Million which makes him the richest musician in Ghana and one of the richest in Africa.
His real name is Michael Owusu Addo known as a Ghanaian hip pop rapper, songwriter, stage performer, recording artist, and philanthropist.
Burna Boy
Burna Boy’s move to Lagos was one of the highlights of his ascent to musical stardom. His music began to gain traction after he dropped his hit track ‘Like to Party’ from the 2012 debut album L.I.F.E.
The album witnessed 40,000 purchases on the day it dropped only. Since then, Burna Boy’s musical career began to boom and in 2020, he released his latest album titled ‘Twice as Tall’. The album has been a huge success and has gained international popularity and even an award at the Grammys.
Burna Boy became one of Nigeria’s quickest-rising talents in the early 2010s with his combination of dancehall, reggae, Afrobeat, and pop.
He made quality jams that have earned him recognition as one of the best African musician.
His real name is Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, he was born on July 2nd, 1991in Ahaoda, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Recently, Burna Boy won a Grammy Award in the Best Global Music Album category for his 2020 album, Twice as Tall. Wizkid won a 2020 Grammy Award alongside Wizkid. The Grammy award makes it the first time Nigerian musicians have won a Grammy award in recent times.
Burna Boy owns a variety of cars and he loves cars a lot. He has a huge collection of some of the most beautiful and exotic cars like Mercedes Maybach, Lamborghini, Land Rover and has an estimated net worth of $22 Million.
Diamond Platnumz
Recognized as one of the richest musicians in his country, Diamond Platnumz is a Tanzanian Afropop and Bongo Flava (hip hop and R&B) recording artist. He was born on October 2nd, 1987 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
His real name is Naseeb Abdul Juma Issack before taking his stage name Diamond Platnumz when he broke into the Tanzanian music industry in 2010 with his music album Kamwambie.
The Kamwambie album was made of 12 different songs, including his hit single Kamwambie, which reigned in Tanzania and Africa. In 2012 Diamond released another album Lala Salama which contained ten songs.
Diamond gained more popularity in the music industry featuring many artists around the world, including Rick Ross, Omarion, Davido, P-Square, Tiwa Savage, flavour, and many others in his album. A Boy from Tandale released by Universal Music Group after joining the music group in 2017.
Due to his popularity in the music industry, Diamond has signed many contracts with different companies, including Pepsi Brand Ambassador in East Africa, a Brand Ambassador of Parimatch Africa, and Nice One Brand Ambassador. He also signed another contract as the Brand Ambassador of Coral Paints in 2020.
Diamond Platnumz owns a radio station. He is an entrepreneur. He earns almost 1 million dollars from his different Businesses. The total revenue of his businesses in Tanzania is $11 million annually. He is a successful musician but much more a successful businessman. He recently bought a studio in Miami, which cost about two million dollars.
Diamond Platnumz estimated net worth is around $12 Million.
Davido
Popularly known as Omo Baba Olowo, OBO is the fifth richest musician in Africa with a net worth estimated at $19 million. David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido is the 53rd highest-paid celebrity on Instagram and the first in Nigeria and Africa.
Apart from the huge money he makes from Instagram, he earns as much as $20,000- $30,000 from his music performances and shows both in Nigeria and abroad. His YouTube channel is another branch that is going very well for him.
He is making fortunes out of the entertainment industry.
Salma Sky
Her music is played in countries like Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania, Salma Sky is the most popular Zambia female artist, she is seconded by Cleo Ice Queen
Salma Sky is a World Music Singer who has a net worth of $5 million. Salma Sky was born on November 22, 1985. A Singer/songwriter known for hits such as “10 Years”, “Wonderful World” and “Folo Folo”.
In November 2012 she won Zambia’s highly viewed Born & Bred Award for Best R&B video.
She has won many awards, including the Zambian Music Award for Best Female Artist. Salma is a role model for young women in Zambia and is an advocate for women’s rights. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and she is also a huge fan of football (soccer).
Don Jazzy
Real name is Collins Michael Ajereh, aka Don Jazzy. His musical journey began at Mo’hits with the hit tracks he made with D’banj. About ten years ago, the duo went their separate ways and Don Jazzy established Mavins Records Label.
His hard work and persistence as a music producer and entrepreneur have fetched the 39-year-old fame and wealth as he is worth an estimated $18 million.
He is famous for fishing out very talented newcomers in the music industry. Popular Nigerian songstress, Ayra Starr, is one of his newly found talents.
Wizkid
Nigeria’s Wizkid is an International Afrobeats star, and one of the richest musicians in Africa.
Wizkid’s numerous endorsements deals with different brands which pay him as much as $240,000 coupled with his singing have earned him a net worth of approximately $21 million.
Starboy or Machala as he is popularly called has songs that still make it to Billboard’s top 100 Hot music.
The star singer came to the limelight with the release of his banger single “Holla at Your Boy” in 2011 alongside other songs in the successful debut album ‘Superstar’ under Banky W’s record label— Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E records).
Tiwa Savage
Nigerian singer, songwriter, and actress. She is one of Africa’s most popular and successful musicians, with an estimated net worth of $5 million. Savage is known for her vocal range, musical versatility, and energetic stage performances.
Savage’s music career kicked off in 2009 when she became a backup singer for the pop duo P-Square. She later embarked on a solo career and has since released three studio albums.
She is also a judge on The Voice Nigeria with several awards, including a BET Award, two MTV Africa Music Awards, and two MOBO Awards.
Olamide
Adedeji Olamide otherwise known as Olamide Badoo is a Nigerian artist recognized for his street music and has been consistently ranked as a top 5 Musician in Nigeria, thanks to his exceptional and constant delivery of great albums and hit Singles.
While Olamide is well known for his musical prowess and for helping other upcoming Musicians, he is not well known for his financial prowess because of the quiet personal life in which he lives.
However, he is so financially buoyant that he comfortably sits amongst the richest musicians in Africa.
According to Celebrity Networth, Olamide’s current net worth is about 7.2 Billion Naira equivalent to $16 million, hence making him one of the richest and highest paid Rappers in Africa.
Zahara
Zahara is a South African singer and songwriter. She is best known for her hit single “Loliwe” which was released in 2011. Zahara is one of the richest female musicians in Africa. She has an estimated net worth of $9 million. She accumulated this net worth through her successful music career.
She has released several hit singles and albums that have done well commercially. Besides her music career, Zahara has also ventured into acting and has appeared in a few movies and television shows. Her known ventures have been successful, making her one of the most successful African musicians today.
These are the few millennials in the African entertainment industry who have made fortunes and are still basking in the euphoria of wealth and luxury. Fame is one thing that runs with wealth and these millennials mentioned above, have both.
