“Dream Big, But Not Too Soon” — Innocent Kuti’s take on Sierra Leonean artists and the 02 Arena

Multiple-award winning afropop artist and self-proclaimed number one Sierra Leonean artist with a penchant for touring Europe, Innocent Kuti, has recently labeled the O2 Arena as a premature dream for his fellow countrymen. It all began a couple of weeks ago when popular Sierra Leonean Afropop singer, Famous, announced his grand plans to grace London’s iconic O2 Arena with his music next Summer.

Famous’ announcement came just two days after Nigerian groundbreaking Afropop star, Asake successfully sold out the very same venue. In a video that quickly circulated online, Innocent had some sobering advice for his fellow Sierra Leonean artists. He believed that the O2 Arena project should not be their immediate focus. With an air of wisdom, he urged his compatriots to take a step back and assess their readiness for such a monumental venture.

“We barely have an artist with five million views on a song on YouTube. Ghana, Cameroon and other countries with trending artists are still finding it difficult to host a show at the O2, it’s a premature dream,” said Innocent Kuti.

According to the singer, Sierra Leonean artists needed to embrace the reality of their current situation. He argued that, before harboring dreams of headlining at the O2 Arena, they should first strive to make their presence felt in the digital realm.

While acknowledging a few bright spots like Kao Denero, Arkman, The Therapist, and others who had managed to rack up at least a million views on YouTube, Innocent couldn’t help but draw comparisons. He pointed out that Sierra Leone’s musical neighbors in Ghana had surged far ahead. Artists like Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, and Shatta Wale were ruling the charts, but they too hadn’t dared to dream of an O2 Arena show.

According to Innocent, the O2 Arena dream is beautiful, but not an easy path to tread as he emphasized the financial reality of such an endeavor, estimating that it would cost around a hefty $100,000. In his eyes, Sierra Leonean artists needed to adopt a more business-savvy approach. He urged his countrymen to encourage their fans to stream their songs online, and strive to first enter the million views chart on YouTube.