Nigeria Gets Free Downloads Of Zakes Bantwini & J. Martins Hit Single

Last year saw the hugely successful collab between local platinum selling artist and producer Zakes Bantwini and Nigerian music star J. Martins to produce Ifunaya. The monster cross country hit single has resonated with fans from across the African continent and now, thanks to the latest sequel to Mxit Music Studio - this time in Nigeria - fans in that country can download thousands of tracks for free.

The music video for Ifunaya, included in Bantwini's latest album The Fake Book & Real Book: My Music Bible, was shot on location at the opulent 15 on Orange hotel in Cape Town. J. Martins' East African influence combines fluidly with Bantwini's disctinctive sound and the result is a seriously catchy track.

'Working with J. Martins was such a pleasure and I love the fact that this track has broader African appeal. Together we are the most untapped and underestimated continent in terms of musical talent so big up to this initiative that's in the African spirit of sharing,' says Bantwini.

Along with hit single Ifunaya, Mxit Music Studio Nigeria is also giving away tracks from popular Nigerian artist KaySwitch; sensational rapper and 2013 X-Factor Nigeria winner DJ Switch; as well as South African afro-pop sensation Mafikizolo, whose track Khona reached no.1 in Nigeria but has never been available for download until now. With a total of 10,000 free downloads available over the next 4 weeks, Nigeria can access some of the hottest musical talent from the continent.

'The response to the Mxit Music Studio app in South Africa has literally blown us away. Africa is an incredibly exciting market for us and so the opportunity to pull some of the best talent from both South Africa and Nigeria in order to engage young Nigerians on the move was the next step,' says Mxit's Marketing and Communications Manager, Ben-Carl Havemann.

Bantwini was announced as the face of Mxit Music Studio (South Africa), which launched in April and has given music fans 40,000 free downloads from a stellar list of artists including Zakes Bantwini, Goodluck, iFani, Khuli Chana, Euphonik, AKA, Liquideep, Toya DeLazy and Mafikizolo.

Follow Zakes Bantwini on Twitter @ZakesBantwiniSA, on Facebook.com/ZakesBantwiniOfficial or you can download the Zakes Bantwini app on m.mxit.com and visit the app store

· The Mxit Music Studio Nigeria app line-up includes Zakes Bantwini, KaySwitch, DJ Switch and Mafikizolo. Mxit users* can add the Mxit Music Studio app, which features an artist every week, and find pages packed with profiles, music videos, photos and interviews.

At the end of each featured artist's week, 2'500 downloads of their single is made available to Mxit users free of charge (on a first-come first-serve basis). *The Mxit Music Studio Nigeria app is not available on IOS devices

· For media enquiries, please contact Elizabeth Senger, 0833 967 608, [email protected]

Elizabeth Senger
Communications consultant
+ 27 833 967 608