W hen a major African pop artist announces a world tour these days, you will see Paris, New York, Toronto and Amsterdam among the dates. You will see multiple nights at London’s O2 Arena – a venue that has become a regular hub for Nigerian pop supremacy. You will see grand, multimillion-dollar stage designs, towering LED screens and meticulously choreographed dancing as artists such as Burna Boy , Wizkid, Asake, Rema, Tyla and Tems have become global stars. What you will rarely see, however, is a comprehensive, interconnected list of dates in Accra, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Kigali or Luanda: the cities that birthed these acts. It is a central paradox of the current African music surge: the continent’s biggest cultural exports are struggling to perform consistently for audiences across the continent. This has created a significant cultural gap. Music has played a central role in changing how young Africans are seen globally, replacing outdated narratives with a more dynamic representation of African life.…