Rhythm Unplugged is a music concert in West Africa. CEO of the Flytime Group, Cecil Hammond, organised the first concert in 2004. The annual concert is organised by Flytime Promotions, a subsidiary of the Flytime Group. The 2011 Lagos edition of Rhythm Unplugged unveiled artists including Wizkid, Olamide, Davido, Tiwa Savage and Seyi Shay. Rhythm Unplugged concerts featured dialoguing co-hosts, notably, co-hosts Julius Agwu and Okey Bakassi, who hosted several Flytime Promotions events in the early years. Rhythm Unplugged also pioneered the extensive artist line-up for single concert events in Nigeria.
History
Rhythm Unplugged was first organised by Cecil Hammond in 2004 via his company Flytime Promotions. The entertainment event was designed to promote Nigerian musicians and comedians at a time when the Nigerian music industry was just gaining recognition on the internationalmusic scene.
Conception
The first Rhythm Unplugged concert was held in 2004 at Fantasyland in Ikoyi, Lagos and tickets sold out. Following the success of the first Rhythm Unplugged concert, Flytime Promotions announced that it would host the concert annually at a larger venue in order to accommodate the growing fan base. In years since, Rhythm Unplugged has been hosted at the Federal Palace Hotel, the Ocean View and, most recently, at the Eko Convention Center all in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Locations
The concerts have taken place in multiple cities across Nigeria, including Benin, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Jos, and Ibadan. There have been over 40 editions of Rhythm Unplugged since 2004 in various cities, however, the primary concert is still held in Lagos, at the Eko Convention center. In 2010, Rhythm Unplugged was hosted in Benin City. It was the first Rhythm Unplugged concert hosted outside of Lagos. In 2011 a Rhythm Unplugged concert was held in Abuja. In 2012, two Rhythm Unplugged concerts were held outside Lagos. The first concert was held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and featured the popular singer from Rivers State, Duncan Mighty. The second concert was held in Ibadan, Oyo State and featured performances from Wizkid, Davido, 2Baba and Olamide. In 2013, Rhythm Unplugged was held in Lagos and featured major international and domestic acts including Wyclef, P-Square, Burna Boy and Olamide. This edition of the concert was sponsored by Harp Lager and was branded Harp Rhythm Unplugged. The 2014 edition of Rhythm Unplugged marked its 10th anniversary and featured P-Square, Davido, Mavin All Stars, Olamide, MI, Patoranking, Waje, Yemi Alade, Seyi Shay, Skales, Runtown, Bovi, Julius Agwu, Okey Bakassi, I Go Dye and Apororo. It was Flytime Promotions' largest and most well-attended Rhythm Unplugged. Also, in 2014, Pepsi became the major corporate sponsor of Rhythm Unplugged, and the concert was correspondingly named Pepsi Rhythm Unplugged. Pepsi remains the concert's major corporate sponsor, and subsequent editions of Rhythm Unplugged maintain the Pepsi prefix. The 2015 edition of Rhythm Unplugged was hosted in Lagos and featured the American Musician, Trey Songz, as the headline act. Seyi Shay, Falz, Olamide, Omawumi, Kiss Daniel, Korede Bello, Reekado Banks, Koker, DJ Obi, DJ Exclusive, and Cobhams performed at the 2016 edition of Rhythm Unplugged held in Lagos. In 2017 Rhythm Unplugged was held as part of a two-day Music and Comedy festival. The first day of the concert hosted the Rhythm Unplugged Concert, which featured performances by Big Shaq, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Wande Coal, Simi, Runtown, Olamide, Ycee, Niniola, Small Doctor, Mayokun, 9ice, Nonso Amadi. The second day of the concert hosted Wizkid The Concert. Davido made an appearance during this concert and, for the first time, Davido and Wizkid performed together. By sharing a stage, the two artists signaled an end to a year-long feud. The 2018 edition of Rhythm Unplugged was held as part of a three-day long music festival names Flytime Festival. Rhythm Unplugged was featured on the first day of the festival, and was headlined by Davido, Tiwa Savage, D'Banj, Burna Boy, Duncan Mighty and DJ Cuppy.
