Sizwe Sibiya
Naira Marley and Busiswa have stormed to the top of Nigeria’s chart just a few days after the release of their single, “Coming.”
29-year-old Naira has been flying the Nigerian flag high ever since he came into the limelight in 2015 with his debut EP Gotta Dance.
But his collaboration with Busiswa, 32, appears to be his greatest masterstroke yet.
There is a long and rich history of Nigerian artists collaborating with SA musicians, but Naira has taken it to the next level with the Kalawa Chikita.
Released last month, “Coming” is proving to be one of the biggest hits to come out of African soil in recent months, and the numbers are beginning to agree.
Naira stated on instagram that the song calls for dance moves which “need a partner.” Alongside this, he shared an instructional video of himself and Busiswa coolly demonstrating how couples should groove to the song under the hashtag #ComingChallenge.
At the time these words were published, the 42 second-long clip is only shy of a couple of thousand views from reaching a million on the platform.
Although the release of an accompanying music video is inevitable, the song’s distribution provides a glimpse into the marketing of popular music in the future.
In the age of Instagram and Tik Tok, it is more effective to create a viral dance “challenge” for your song than to release a big-budget music video.
In less than a week, Marley and Busiswa’s video clip is making bigger waves than many music videos could ever dream of.
Now, his legion of fans – or “Marlians” – are dreaming about the prospect of seeing Busiswa doing the “Coming” alongside Naira in an upcoming music video.
Picture source: @MusicAlkebulan
