Maurice Kirya performs. PHOTOS BY ANDREW KAGGWA
The recent concert by John Legend in Kigali, Rwanda was a marvel of meticulous production. From those working on stage to those covering the event; for instance, media coverage was limited to only three of his opening songs and could photograph or record 30 second videos of each of the songs.
But there was a team from Move Afrika that was recording the entire show, audience reactions and capturing different emotions. Move Afrika is a partnership between Global Citizen, an international education and advocacy organisation that catalyses the movement to end extreme poverty, promote social justice and equity through the lens of intersectionality.
One of the many things Global Citizen is known for is the Global Citizen Festival, where they have worked with various chart topping artists since 2012. In Africa, Global Citizen partnered with PgLang, an American independent multidisciplinary creative communications company, founded by an American film-maker and record producer and Kendrick Lamar, a multi-Grammy award winning rapper.
PgLang has a reputation of creating and curating striking visuals for concerts and TV specials such as award shows, their latest being Kendrick Lamar’s performance at the Superbowl last month.
As many Super Bowl performances, this was mainly tailored for people watching at home with the audience being extras in the whole plot, the production whose stage was a prison yard started with Kendrick Lamar on top of a Gnx car, before heading into symbolic moves and metaphors that talked about America, black pride and identity among other things.
What John Legend’s performance in Kigali and Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl show present are a new norm where shows have taken the sports route, where the live audience may no longer be the cash cow.
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