Fela Kuti

Vick Hope is still on a high from her first appearance at Grammys, so she's on a high. "I'm sorry, but I was just so afraid and tense at first," she says. "I'd never been to an LA red carpet before, but I was incredibly upbeat that morning and the entire day was fantastic." "This is the way I'm going to live from now on." It's clear that this is the case after she heard her host Mastercard's panel championing the next generation of music industry trailblazers. Although not speaking openly about the need for sustained change in the music industry ahead of the BRIT Awards, the radio presenter led the panel with warmth and occasional amusing anecdote. We ease into our chat (with cups of tea on hand) and discuss her love of music, the benefits of inclusivity in the industry, and the true healing power of music.

The Mercury Music Prize in this year saw jazz quintet Ezra Collective go home victorious, making history by becoming the first jazz band to win the gong. Femi Koleoso, bassist TJ Koleoso, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, and tenor saxophonist James Molliso were all delighted in their rise from meeting at a youth club to national fame. Femi outlined how they got off and acknowledged that God had granted them a blessing from God after earlier success, such as appearing at Glastonbury earlier this summer.

What does it mean for music to be global? Influences from many continents may be combined in this book. When musicians attempt to achieve this, the sources of each song's origins are often muddied to the point of indecipherability. However, Nonso Amadi, a Nigeria-born crooner, has a distinctive cross-continental style, reflecting all the sonic components he discovered during his lifetime's migration. He learned to play traditional Yoruba songs on the flute in school. In comparison, the politically aware Afrobeat and jj music from Fela Kuti, Onyeka Onwenu, and King Sunny Ade floated in his periphery. Their backing tempos were ingrained in his musical soul. These roots, as the artist prepares to release his first full length album after nearly a decade in the game, provide the project's connective tissue. Leaning on the sonic pillar as Amadi has expanded and relocated locations, he's been able to incorporate organic musical elements into his core system.