Johnnie Walker: How To Win With Culture

One of Afrobeats most underreported realities has been one of a partnership between brand and culture, with Johnnie Walker leading the pack.

Finding space. Finding connection. Finding openings for originality to thrive. For new ideas to try. And by seeking to create, we just might have found a new approach to life, a new vista of things that we love. A shot in the arm, a flash in the dark, that fresh taste of novelty sliding from our efforts and generating all the good chemicals in our brain. That’s what the Nigerian culture means to us. An all-embracing ecosystem of thinkers and innovators synthesizing our existing mores, values and elemental characteristics to create art, influence the present and impact the future.

We have Afrobeats acting as an expansionist mascot for our way of life, with hit songs and the stars who sing them getting a run at the highest prizes in global pop music. Whether it’s “Calm Down” bagging a decisive Selena Gomez collaboration on its way to becoming India’ number 1, or Burna Boy’s “Last Last” finding a home in every market in the world and ending the year nominated for the Grammys. 

Afrobeats currently leads the world via soft power rooted in music. Its current expansionist arc can be seen across fashion and filmmaking, as different facets of our art take flight from servicing the local market to vying for the international, where a world of possibilities awaits. While music leads the art— with Tems and Burna Boy showing up strong on the Wakanda Forever soundtrack before performing at the recent NBA All-Stars halftime show — locally, it continues to be centred and run by communities of creatives, professionals and consumers who make up the sprawling ecosystem that supports creativity. From recording to partying and concert circuit runs, every aspect of it is powered by humans digging into culture and finding new pathways of collective expression.

Enter Johnnie Walker, the Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. One of Afrobeats most underreported realities has been one of a partnership between brand and culture, with Johnnie Walker leading the pack. As our music has flowed from countless dingy studios into homes, large arenas and celebrations of the human condition, Johnnie Walker has been a chief cultural lubricator, partnering across the breadth of creativity in Nigeria to aid success. Whether via brand-led events and initiatives to boost creativity, or joint partnerships with individual creators and the platforms that enable them, the brand takes the form of progress in every space. 

Nigerian music and alcohol are twins. Inseparable at every turn, and complimenting each other. They’re interconnected in myriad ways, along every stage of the conceptualisation, recording, distribution and consumption of the art form. Every generation of Nigerian musicians has odes written and performed to drinking. The modern pop era has contributed to that subgenre, from Ice Prince’s “Whisky,” to Joeboy’s “Sip (Alcohol) and Burna Boy’s world-beating “Last Last,” the love continues to grow. Whisky also fuels parties, supporting spaces where the music is enjoyed in a communal celebration. 

Johnnie Walker’s contribution to the Nigerian music industry is focused on investing in the culturally relevant spaces, powering new platforms, and supporting the growth of exceptional performers in seed stage development.  In the past year, they have been able to crystallise that focus into the execution of a new experience, “Walker’s District.” 

Johnnie Walker created the ‘Walker’s District’ to celebrate Afro-optimistic creatives whose personalities and artistic journeys encapsulate the brand’s call for people, talents and non-creatives alike, to challenge stereotypes and societal biases. The events, which were held in Lagos and Abuja, mixed symbolism and expression, as a commitment to the Nigerian creative economy.

Walkers District spotlit creatives within communities. People who have demonstrated the personal freedom and insistence on living uniquely while shaping the future. To keep the passion alive, Johnnie Walker partnered with these creatives to rejuvenate broken-down landmarks, create beautiful murals and redesign street signs across cities in Nigeria.

For symbolism, Walker’s District rejuvenated Freedom Park, throwing on lights, colour and shine on the famous old prison synonymous with Nigeria’s turbulent history. The park, inundated with grafitti and bright paintings is reinterpreted in the spirit of the times, as a hub for a young creative movement breaking beyond convention and societal ceilings. 

You can also feel the same Walker-powered energy at the Independence Tunnel in Maryland, Lagos,  where local creatives, Tumi Artists,  breathed new life into the space with a facelift.  

For live music support, the Walker District Partiesrm held across Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja formed a great showcase for musicians on the verge of an explosion.  ODUMODU BLVCK was imperious in Abuja, last March, before ending the year with a Native Records (Def Jam-affiliated) contract and a buzzing record, “Pincanto.” Victony’s successful 2022 saw him drop the Outlaw EP, and perform at the Walker’s District Party, on the eve of his explosion into global acclaim with “Soweto.” New entrant Asake ran the culture from his mic stand last year. But his early stages passed through the Walker’s District Party in March. 

Beyond individual performances, Johnnie Walker has also significantly invested in partner platforms creating wonder in niche spaces. Afrobeats might dominate the headlines for its headline-hugging razzmatazz, but its soul resides is in the alternative spaces, where a diverse array of music is created and enjoyed by new-age fans. Johnny Drille leads a movement. The soul-snatching, ballad-singing, mush-slinging love singer has spent a decade building a thriving  alternative movement. Every year, he pulls off two concerts in Lagos and Abuja, titled Johnny’s Room, where over a thousand people link up to be united under his music. With Johnnie Walker’s support, this has increased in size and attendance.

Johnny Walker’s support also extends to the Island Block Party where the December 2022 edition headlined by Black Sherif saw 22,000 people turn up for the music, as a fitting end to a banner year for the Ghanaian rapper. 

Few brand-music engagements really strike at the heart of the culture, or attend to the needs of a movement with the necessary support to people and structures enabling creativity to thrive. Johnny Walker has proved to be on the pulse of the culture, proving that over the past year, and showing everyone how to approach, support, uplift and contribute meaningfully to a global movement.

For Johnie walker, this continues a long tradition of discovery and breaking  boundaries.