“49-99 is a reflection of the economy of Nigeria”- Tiwa Savage
Less than 24 hours after releasing her new song, Tiwa Savage has been receiving great reviews. With over 300, 000 views on her YouTube channel, many people can’t get over the greatness of the song.
While the song has great visuals, there’s more about it than that. In an interview with London-based Nigerian OAP, Shopsy, Tiwa revealed that the song talks about the condition of Nigeria’s economy.
She acknowledged that the title of the song was inspired by Fela Kuti.
On the song
It wasn’t even planned. It was a record that I was working on and as soon as we finished it, when I was listening to it over and over again, I realized how powerful and how important it is for us to get some messages across.
On how she came about the title of the song
49-99 was a phrase coined by Fela Kut, who is the godfather of afrobeats. It’s a transit bus in Nigeria called the Molue and you have 49 seats but you have twice as much people standing which is a reflection of the economy of Nigeria where the rich is getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, so that’s what the song is about. We are suffering and smiling.
Watch the interview here