According series of tweets by the Rights & Research Administrator for BET's Business & Legal Affairs, Lilian Blankson, things may get better if African artistes concentrates on pushing their music on international platforms and pushing to get their music played on American radio stations rather than criticizing organisers of the awards who have nothing to lose if they decide to drop the “Best International Act-Africa” category.
She also corrected that the “Best International Act-Africa” category winner is pre-recorded and not presented back stage as reported in the media. Ms. Blackson also blamed past African winners of that category including Sarkodie, Wizkid, Davido, TuFace, D'Banj among others for keeping quit and not telling Africa the true story of what really happens at the awards. She urged honorees of BET awards particularly from Africa to speak up and paint the right picture to Africa.
Lilian N. Blankson is a reliable authority at BET and their events. She was in charge of producing special productions such as BET’s 25th Anniversary, The BET Awards Show, Celebration of Gospel, Rip The Runway, Comedy Awards, Walk of Fame, Spring Bling, and the Hip Hop Awards for the BET network.
Lilian also produced and directed the first African Cypher on BET that featured Sarkodie and also helped in the execution of the BET International act category.
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| Lilian N. Blankson |
Read Lilian Blankson's Full Tweets:
“BET will always signify Black Star Power… Africa, if we want to be featured prominently, we need to know the facts and be very practical.
First of all, tell the truth and stop tweeting lies and mistruths. There has never been a backstage presentation of any award. Pre recorded.
We need to work hard and get our music on the radio here in the US. How do ppl respect ur brand when you are not on the radio?
Make your music more internationally appealing… Think of ways to get all audiences invested. Oliver Twist is a great example. Universal story.
Folks worked so so hard to provide a platform for Africa on the network. We won’t get there overnight. And misinformation won’t help.
BET domestic does not and has never aired African music so to have a category is a major deal. Let’s prove and show them our worth not anger.
The artists who have been honored – why haven’t you cleared the air and told the truth abt what happened! Why the silence???
Out of 19 categories, only 4 or 5 make air. This is standard in Award Shows. If the US artists are not outraged and complaining, why are we?
Performances sell Awards shows & make ratings, not the categories. Lets step up our game & get our music so big they can no longer ignore it.
If you choose to fly down and watch the show and not do press who exactly do you think is affected or missing out? Think about it.
Let’s try and keep our category and know the facts. It does nothing to the network to tale it away – but it sends us back several steps.
Finally, let’s be a little humble. No one owes us anything. Like everything else, we have to work our way to the top so we can stay there.
Nothing has ever come easy to us Africans. But anything worth having will not be a cake walk. Started from the bottom, but we here.”
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