Competition is destroying collaborations among artists – Joeboy claims

Nigerian afrobeats singer Joseph Akinwale Akinfenwa-Donus, popularly known as Joeboy, has spoken on the factors limiting growth and collaboration in the music industry.

While speaking in an interview with Cool FM Lagos, Joeboy claimed that some artists approach collaboration with a competitive mindset. He noted that he expects a featured artist to outshine the main lead.

“It is easier for me to collaborate with artists that I am cool with or friends with. Because there will be no ego or inner competition. Personally, if I feature you, I expect you to outshine me in the song. That is why I featured you. So, I don’t get the competition,” he said.

During the interview, reggae singer Fuayefika Maxwell known professionally as Wizard Chan, also backed up Joeboy’s opinion, adding that most artists allow their ego interfere with their art making process.

“My problem with collaboration is just ego. I would never interfere when you’re recording; you just also do the same. Some artists will ask for a feature and want to tell you how to do your job. That is wrong. Let me do my thing. The reason I would feature anybody is because I cannot do what they are doing. And I can not even tell them to sound like me or do my style. The aim of collaboration is to bring a different aspect to the song. And it is not a competition. But some artists would go as far as changing their verses when they hear their collaborator’s own and it sounds better than theirs. It is not supposed to be a competition,” he added.