In a candid and wide-ranging interview, veteran producer Sarz has pulled back the curtain on the “brutal truth” behind the global rise of Afrobeats. Despite the genre’s international dominance, Sarz describes the path to success as an “extreme sport” where passion is often the only thing keeping creators from walking away. The most striking revelation involved the massive disparity in streaming income, where Sarz noted that while 1 million streams in the United States can yield between $3,000 and $5,000, the same million streams from a Nigerian audience typically brings in only $300 to $500. He admitted that in Nigeria, he hasn’t received any residual income from his music, explaining that producers are often “only as good as the advance” they receive because local infrastructure to collect and distribute royalties remains broken.
Sarz also touched on a surprising downside to his global success with Drake’s “One Dance,” stating that the record’s massive success made him feel “unreachable” to the local Afrobeats community. This sense of isolation, combined with the “artist exodus” where creators leave Nigeria to avoid being “big fish in a tiny pond,” fueled his decision to start releasing his own music and DJing to maintain creative control. Beyond the business, he spoke about “timeline grief”—the mourning of the person he used to be before the relentless 19-year grind of the industry. To ensure the next generation doesn’t face the same obstacles, he has partnered with UnitedMasters to support the Sarz Academy, a non-profit dedicated to teaching young creatives the business and technical skills needed to navigate the industry. Looking ahead, Sarz remains optimistic but cautious, viewing AI as a tool rather than a threat and calling for a better economic environment in Nigeria so that the local music scene can finally become as profitable as it is popular.