September 11, 2015

CN&CO & the Global Goals

Various Artists_Sep 8-01

The Tell Everybody album cover

On 25 September 2015, a magical event will be taking place at the UN in New York – 193 world leaders will commit to 17 Global Goals to achieve three extraordinary things in the next 15 years. The three things are:

  • End extreme poverty
  • Fight inequality & injustice
  • Fix climate change

At CN&CO we’ve been working with the Project Everyone team, based in London, and the fabulous Lisa Henry (of Left Hand Films and Jozi Film Festival fame) to drive awareness of the Global Goals in Africa through social media. Today, something happened that made us stand back, gulp, sprout goosebumps and go “wow”. Today, a song was launched that made us proud to be associated with the Global Goals launch campaign – and even prouder to be African!

It’s called “Tell Everybody”, and it carries a message of empowerment for Africa’s youth, calling on them to hold their leaders accountable for driving change on the continent through the Global Goals. The song features some of the continent’s biggest stars, including Mafikizolo (South Africa), Yemi Alade (Nigeria), Diamond (Tanzania), Sauti Sol (Kenya), Toofan (Togo), Becca and Sarkodie (Ghana).

Tell Everybody is also Africa’s first-ever crowdsourced song. Producers Cobhams Asuquo (Nigeria), David KING DAVID Muthami (Kenya) and Ellputo (Mozambique)  source two verses (one in French and one in English) via a competition that ran in the run up to the recording. 5,712 people from 24 African countries submitted lyrics via their cellphones.

Mafikizolo_In_Studio

Popular South African artists Mafikizolo at the Tell Everybody recording session in Johannesburg

Cobhams Asuquo said, “We decided to let the young voices of Africa be heard in this song. Not only did we love the winning verses but all the entries informed the vision, lyrics and sound of the song. The African youth are powerhouses in their own right and collectively they can make change happen.”

“As artists we have the opportunity to reach so many people, and an obligation to give them more than music, more than entertainment but to educate and empower them as well. This is our gift and our privilege,” said Mafikizolo’s Theo Kgosinkwe and Nhlanhla Nciza.

There’s a lot happening on the Global Goals website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube feeds. Please go and check them out. Engage, interact, share your favourite goal.