Before Tiwa Savage arrived at her Berwick Street pop-up shop yesterday, there were fans lining up to meet her: school girls silently thanking the Afrobeats artist for visiting during summer recess; mothers and grandmothers dancing to her unique R&B, soul and pop-influenced take on the West African genre.
“It melts my heart,” the self-described Afro-pop performer, whose full name is Tiwatope Savage-Balogun, tells Vogue from a quiet corner of the store. “It’s like a concert here already!” Indeed, her first UK headline date is the reason why the Nigerian, who calls Lagos her current home, is in town. “I wanted to give fans a lot more than just the show, so we decided to do a merch shop,” she explains of her temporary Soho residence. “My fans are so important. Afrobeats is a new genre to the world, so to have people that are dedicated to me, that take time out of their busy schedules and money out of their pockets to see me... it means so much. I don’t even like calling them fans – they’re like family, they’re like friends. They fuel me, they make me go on.”