Cecil and Keke Hammond, the power couple behind Rhythm Unplugged and Flytime Fest, are in celebratory mood.
It’s the 20th anniversary of Flytime Fest, an annual concert where many now famous Nigerian artistes performed for the first time.
In 2004, Cecil Hammond launched a one-night musical concert called ‘Rhythm Unplugged’. According to him, this pioneered and revolutionised the rise of Nigerian music. “Most of the big artistes you have today, Flytime actually started their first individual shows. Nobody ever used to do that, and it was a big risk we were taking,” he declared.
Featuring on the latest episode of CNN’s African Voices: Changemakers, Cecil explained how the idea for Rhythm Unplugged came about.
“Rhythm Unplugged came about 20 years ago when I realised there were no concerts for mainstream artistes. We had to find a platform for them to come perform and for the audience to come see their favourite artistes. Back then, comedy was way bigger than music,” he said.
Cecil stated further that once people started demanding for more Nigerian music, radio stations also had to increase their playlists of Nigerian music and artistes.
“We had over 30 to 40 artistes including comedians literally on the first show. And it was sold out. We had our next show three months later, and the next show four to six months later because it kept on being success upon success. And it just shows that this is what Nigerians wanted to see,” he noted.
Long before becoming Flytime’s Chief Operations Officer, Cecil Hammond’s wife, Keke had admired the brand’s dedication to promoting Nigerian talent, getting her first Flytime experience around 2007.
“I’d heard about the franchise, about Rhythm Unplugged and how it was this platform for Nigerians artistes, and how there’s been nothing like it on the Nigerian scene. And most importantly, he didn’t have international artistes on the bill deliberately, and I loved that,” she said.
In Lagos, Flytime Fest is already a Detty December staple, and Cecil and Keke aimed to seal their legacy with the 20th anniversary show.
In Keke’s words: “There are so many different things that Rhythm Unplugged and Flytime Fest have contributed to – where Afrobeats is now from a global standpoint. I would say that, I’ve seen that growth from our point of view as well as from the artiste’s point of view. And then, there’s also the inclusion of international artistes. Why? It’s because our artistes are global. And so, if our artistes are going to the US or the UK or Asia, why can’t we also bring the people that they’re working with, who they are featuring odn their music, to Nigeria as well?”
Nigerian artistes like Davido and Tems are making waves outside the country. They’ve performed on stages around the world, but before the global acclaim, Flytime was a starting point.
Cecil reminisced on the array of performers he has witnessed on the Flytime shows over the years. “I’ve seen over 300 artistes perform on our stage, and only about 10 to 20 or 20% of them are still around right now.”
Continuing on Davido’s journey, Keke said, “If we think about someone like Davido, he started when he was very young, but he didn’t have the platform. Thankfully, there was a place like Rhythm Unplugged, which was his first stage. So, we want to continue to be a part of those stories because they are so beautiful.”
The Hammonds said they invest a lot of resources to provide the artistes and the audiences with memorable experience.
Keke elaborated thus, “Our artistes are global, right? And they’re performing at Madison Square Garden, O2 and places like that. So, when they come here, they don’t want to reduce their production quality. So, the onus is on us to make sure that we get the equipment from wherever to be able to deliver that same quality.”
Looking to the future, the couple said they intend to expand outside of Nigeria, “I would say that our evolution is evolving. Beyond just the curation of festivals, there are other ecosystems that will be integrated into the creation or curation of events.”