Fave, the Nigerian singer behind "Baby Riddim," said female artists in the music industry face a double standard where their appearance is judged before their talent, and that the scrutiny can border on personal obsession.
"It's harder for female artists to blow. Female artists aren't measured by talent but by what they wear," she said on the Afropolitan Podcast. "If your tummy isn't flat… it's never really about the music; it's more about people's sexual desires or their fantasies about you. And I think that right there is a problem."
Fave, whose real name is GodsFavour Chidozie, said the focus shifts to how a woman looks or dresses before her music is even considered. She described the dynamic as one where a female artist's wardrobe is reviewed before her vocals. "It's more about people's sexual desires or their fantasies about you. And I think that right there is a problem, because then it's more about how decently are you dressed before I get to listen to you," she said.
She pointed to ongoing online speculation about her own skin tone as a concrete example. "Because now there's this new saga, people think I bleached," she said, adding that conversations about female artists online are "never really about the music."
Fave argued that male artists are not held to the same expectations. She said the imbalance forces women to overperform just to remain in the conversation. "I think the female artists do way more. They bring their best to the stage, and they leave it all there," she said, adding that the industry's double standards leave room for men "to just be okay, as opposed to being exceptional."
The singer also discussed the difficulty of breaking into the industry as a woman. She described encounters early in her career with label executives who were reluctant to sign female artists, citing them as harder to manage. She said the imbalance often means women have to work far harder than men to receive the same level of attention or industry support.
Despite the challenges, Fave said she tries to use her platform to support other female artists still trying to break through, while acknowledging she is still building her own audience. "I'm still trying to get people to focus on the music that I have to give you, as opposed to everything else," she said.
Fave is known for songs including "Baby Riddim" and "Kante," a collaboration with Davido. She previously signed to Atlantic Records before going independent, saying she wanted more investment in marketing her music rather than simply financial backing.
According to Pulse.ng.
