What Black Talent Can Learn From Tiwa Savage’s Performance at the King’s Coronation EP#7

Last weekend was King Charles III coronation and celebration party and Tiwa Savage a renowned Nigerian Artiste was one of the performing artiste at the event. Queen Tiwa (aka Queen of Afrobeats) as she is fondly called by her fans, indeed performed excellently at that event.

However, I took some personal learning that would be interesting to any black talent interviewing for a dream role and trying to ensure their talent is seen and premium value placed on it.

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1.???Quit thinking that you are a second-class professional because you are black: I loved it when the orator addressed Tiwa Savage as the Queen of Afrobeats and loved it more when she walked out as that Queen. So yes, you can be a black talent and still be a Master at your craft – settle that in your mind. It is your responsibility to recognize your talent, refine it and amplify it.

2.???You must be intentional about building your ‘expertise portfolio’ and knowing which experience (song in Tiwa’s case) is befitting for your current audience or stakeholder: When one of my clients in the UK told me Queen Tiwa performed at the King’s Coronation, I was immediately curious to know which of her songs made it to the Kings palace. When I heard it was ‘Keys to the kingdom’, I appreciated Tiwa’s intentionality in building her ‘expertise portfolio’, but most importantly her strategy in selecting which of her portfolio (song in this case) was worth showcasing to the King. Knowing what your stakeholders want and showcasing your talent in ways that solve their needs or in their lingua – is the ‘Key to the kingdom’ literally.

3.???You must always show your stakeholders how you look like them: One thing I identified that Tiwa Savage did to make her audience see that she was like them was that she dressed like European Royalty not African Royalty – her dress made a queenly statement in ways her audience could relate to, even as the green colour reflected her Nigerian heritage! Moreso the way she delivered her song, was more vocal oriented which is something a more focused European audience would appreciate. If she was delivering to a more focused African audience, she would most likely pick a song that will let her focus on killer dance moves or a give a more energetic performance.

4.???Allow your authentic self or very essence shine through: The best part of her performance for me was when her band switched to singing in Yoruba (a Nigerian language) and she started dancing with the talking drum playing in the background – that was magical! But it was the strategy she used in showing her authentic self as a black talent – in simple terms she did No. 3, before she did No. 4, don’t skip the process, show them how you look like them quickly and in the first instance or conversation, that’s the foundation of the conversation, then you can go on to showing your authentic self.

5.???Rejections are what they are ‘….rejections’ and they do not define you: Tiwa Savage participated in X-Factor – the British competition that spawned American Idol, but she was rejected at a point. She did not say because they can’t see the goodness of her talent she would quit. Instead she recognized her talent, kept refining and amplifying it, till she was invited to sing or perform before ‘Kings’.

As always I keep it simple and sweet. Please let me know if any of my personal learnings resonated with you ??and feel free to engage, like and share with someone who is probably struggling with interviewing and I would link here my best kept interview secrets to help such person gain deeper perspectives on interviewing (black talent or not). Moreso, just in case you haven’t, you may also like to watch her performance – here it is and let me know if you got any personal deductions too :)

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Hope|Faith|Love.

Ijeoma Nkwonta