Seyi Shay’s international deal … superficial or substantial?

Saying that Crazy singer Seyi Shay is flying really high at the moment is not an understatement. On the back of being nominated for two categories of the MTV Africa Music Awards, she has disclosed that she has signed a recording deal with Island Universal Records. The signing took place in London and she was so excited by it that she announced it to the whole world through Instagram, saying, “this is what most of us work so hard for. We spend most of our lives chasing this one opportunity to reach the world through a giant platform like this.” Even as it’s understandable that Shay is very excited by the deal, one cannot but wonder that her excitement is so much, considering that this isn’t supposed to be her first international deal, since she was a member of Girls Aloud before, and it was a group that was believed to be managed by the great Beyonce’s father who plotted Beyonce’s rise to stardom. Also, it has to be questioned if the deal is truly substantial and not superficial like the international deals Nigerian artists have been signing in recent times. D’Banj in particular has signed at least two international deals, but they don’t seem to have done him any world of good. He reportedly signed with Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music, but nothing is being said of it again. Then he surfaced with another one, purportedly with Sony Music, but it still doesn’t seem to have enhanced him as people keep saying that his music isn’t appealing, and this shouldn’t be the case, as artists who sign such prestigious deals are guided to do the right music. P-Square also signed a deal with Universal Music Group, but if they were asked to list their gains with Universal, it might just be difficult for them to do so.