Found this report on Ynaija, written by Eromo Egbejule and just had to share, enjoy!
On a quiet January day, a Medview Airlines plane was preparing to
take-off from Terminal 2 of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos,
destination, Abuja. Passengers were seated, but the business-class
section was conspicuously empty. On recognizing actress Eniola Badmus
who was sitting contentedly in economy class, one of the air hostesses
asked her to move over as it were, to ‘higher ground’.
Nearby, a budding
actress (we want the name na) who by a freak coincidence, had been cast
in Obi Emelonye’s Last Flight to Abuja was watching quietly. She then
politely beckoned the hostess and asked to follow suit for a short
period to – believe it or not – take photos there. Stunned, the airline
staff agreed, well aware that the images were going to be used to create
the illusion of an arrival in the big league.
There are no prizes for guessing correctly where the images will end
and how they will be framed, complete with a matching hashtag –
#FirstClassThings maybe – for the viewing pleasure of social media
users.
“It was shocking”, says Lorenzo Menakaya, also an actor, who was
aboard the same flight. “I just took one look at her and knew there was
only one place the pictures would end up – Instagram”.
Hers could be excused as “one of those things people do just for
Instagram”, says Ade Akanni, an industry watcher. ”People take pictures
with other people’s property, wording the caption so carefully it
conceals the fact that it isn’t theirs and so they can claim, ‘But I
never said it was mine’. You know?”
For others there is depth in purpose. That is why a singer, May D, in
November 2013, went as far as authorizing a statement about him
acquiring a mansion for
N150m, when in reality he had only leased one-half of the duplex.
“Many of these people lie,” says a travel agent who spoke on the
condition of anonymity. “Harrysong claims he was born in London but his
passport was a virgin one when it was submitted to me two years ago. “I
was on the same flight with Omotola returning from Italy some time ago,”
he continues. “After flying in toilet-end economy seats, she went
through business-class exit when we landed at MMIA.”
It turns out that incidents like those described are the norm, rather
than exception in an industry where ‘packaging’ – Pidgin English
parlance for the struggle to seemingly appear better than one’s current
standing – is a way of life. It rests on a fine line between faith that
things will get better and anxiety that they will not.
As a result, water is made to look like wine and stone is polished to
resemble bread. It is customary – expected even – for celebrities to
strut around like landowners of Earth and live like royalty, regardless
of whether living like this is above their means. For them and their
ilk, ‘fake it till you make it’, has graduated from being just a street
slang and evolved into a motivating mantra.
“Artistes loan cars, clothes, money they can’t pay back and
everything else just to attend events or to show off on social media and
impress fans,” says Fola ‘4lah’ Folayan, on-air personality at Naija
Info, Lagos, and founder of DearArtisteTM, an artiste career development
blog. Fola stresses that modern Nigerian artistes have taken the phrase
too literally. “We have seen those things backfire and it’s just a
colossal embarrassment,” she added.
“What we actually call packaging, is professionally known as
branding,” she explains. “Branding is an especially powerful marketing
tool for artistes because it’s all about communicating their music to
the people they want to attract. In the process, the artiste’s image
(look, outfits, mannerisms and language) online presence, event
appearances and more will have to be packaged to appeal to his target
audience.”
“Truth is celebs the world over fake it,” argues popular blogger,
Lateefah ‘That1960Chick’ Ayoola. “There are fake relationships created
by PR machines, fake marriages, fake drama, even fake babies; all done
by massive PR teams in an effort to keep the public talking about their
client. It’s all about having a public image and keeping people
talking.”
In the end, so much money and effort is spent on faking it, that
inconsistencies arise and the practitioner ends up the worse for it,
having to spend more to maintain the status quo. Those who genuinely
have the assets are of course doubted.”
The society is to blame, says Frederick Aroro, a regular commenter on Linda Ikeji’s blog: “Who loves a broke, starving artiste?”
The gospel according to Linda Ikeji
Pop culture blogger and snoop-a-holic Linda Ikeji has over the years
become the Bible of Pop for celebs and wannabes, their fans, foes and
onlookers across Nigeria. All cadres of citizens refresh her blog by the
hour for hot gist, sizzling rumours and a progress report on the Who’s
Who in Nigeria.
“If you submit a proposal to a client for publicity and he does not
see Linda Ikeji on it as a publicity outlet, he’ll smile and tell you:
‘I’ll get back to you’ and never contact you again because to him, you
are not serious”, posits Seun Oluyemi, a consultant with YNaija TV.
Accordingly, she has – and other bloggers too – been accused of
fuelling the habit of ‘packaging’ with a random post every now and then
attributing arbitrary prices to any luxury item associated with a
celebrity, for the viewing pleasure of the gullible public.
4lah defends the tribe: “Bloggers have nothing to do with this in my
opinion; after all it’s their job to blog. So they see photos and hear
stories and they blog as long as traffic is guaranteed”.
“Sometimes Linda Ikeji can say something is worth this and it doesn’t
mean it actually costs that amount”, comedian and singer, Tunde Ednut
pointed out in a polemical interview on YNaija’s talk show, Rubbin’ Minds in December 2013. He simply reinforced the beliefs of many in the know.
Ms. Ikeji has herself been accused of inflating the price of a 2011 Infiniti FX35 SUV which she claimed to have bought for N8
million – and which true to type, she blogged about. Investigations
reveal that a brand new model sells in the range of $38,084 – $42,600 (N6,207,681 – N6,943,787).
This leads us to another question. Was Linda Ikeji cheated by her car
dealer? Or was she simply practising an art she has so elevated?
Dubai chillin’
In recent years, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), Dubai, has become the new Mecca for Nigerian celebrities who
desire a vacation. Its posh hotels and classy malls beckon to
prospective customers, who have simply given up, and keep answering its
calls.
Linda seems doubly fascinated by the city – which she has previously
visited – and a number of celebrities who have holidayed there appear
hooked as well.
In January 2014, Enugu-based actress, Chike Ike holidayed there and
the (free) coverage accumulated enough footage to shoot a biopic on her,
complete with a sequel Nollywood-style. Ms. Ike who inundates social
media with pictures during her trips – claiming to ‘educate them’ as
many have never been abroad – is one of Linda’s favourites and a
rumoured close friend.
The blogger also dedicated a few posts to the ‘low-key’ white wedding
ceremony that superstar 2face and his beau, Anne Idibia decided to have
in the city dubbed “The City of Gold”. However, there was little
coverage on the blog – and on most mainstream media – of the
behind-the-scenes activity of the multitude that thronged there.
One of the guests, a former manager of an in-demand superstar, told
this reporter, “You know how Nigerians can gatecrash. Everyone wanted to
show face, just to belong and lay claim to being in 2baba’s inner
circle or brag about being able to sponsor themselves to Dubai for just a
weekend. Only about 200 guests were allowed into the main venue of the
wedding. If I call names of those who were bounced, you’ll be shocked.”
A survey of trending images released from Dubai during that period
confirms some personalities had photos taken strategically outside the
building and in the hotel lobbies and hallways before and after the
wedding, but none during the actual gig. “They did watchman outside,”
continues our source. “2face’s people warned some of them from Nigeria,
but pride didn’t allow them stay back. Everybody wanted to do ‘Awon Dubai chillin’.”
Entertainment magazine, HipHop World, documented the
gatecrashing afterwards. “Quite a number of people gave out their
invites to friends who were overjoyed to attend even if they didn’t know
Annie ad 2face personally. They made it worse by coming with other
friends who were equally not invited.”
It also spotlighted the tussle to get on the luxury boat conveying
guests to a private island for the reception, writing: “It wasn’t easy
even for 2face and Annie to get onto their own love boat. Two-time
senator, Florence Ita-Giwa, tried to get in but she was pushed back.”
Star Wars
Perhaps the most salient reason for passing off as being equally rich
and famous stems from the desire to keep up with the Kardashians’
Joneses. From time to time, it is commonplace for entertainers and their
posse, to bump across colleagues and brag about their appearance or
status and jokingly diss their comrades’. So it becomes imperative that
everyone buckle up or pretends to, so as to prevent a repeat occurrence.
The celebrity wars also take another dimension intermittently as a
string of other celebs stoop to indict their own; from TV personality
Uti Nwachukwu – whose relationship with newbie Saeon is viewed with a
level of suspicion reserved for grand publicity stunts – to Port
Harcourt supremo, Duncan Mighty, seen posing with a Phantom Rolls Royce
he “borrowed” for a video shoot.
For so long, it was assumed that pop-star duo, PSquare were the
owners of a private jet in which they appeared to always be lounging in
and taking pictures of. Granted, they did not precisely say –or tweet –
that they owned one but, and quite importantly, they created the
illusion that they did. Like a bolt from the blue, in that December 2013
Rubbin’ Minds interview, Tunde Ednut revealed that the twins
did not own a private jet. The aircraft they were seen lounging in is,
according to Ednut, the toy of multimillionaire Togolese footballer,
Emmanuel Adebayor, a good friend of the Okoyes.
“Even almighty PSquare get intimidated too”, sneers Akanni.
“60-70% of the things we see are majorly hype. We know those who have
and those who are just hype”, Ednut declared with a note of finality,
ending with lyrics better than any his music career has churned – “its
show business; show your business or fake it till you make it”.
Some arrogate their family property to themselves too as is the case
of Davido (real name, David Adeleke) whose fleet of cars do not all
belong to him directly but to his billionaire father who owns a car
dealership. According to a family insider, the elder Adeleke is very
controlling, even locking HKN letterhead papers in his bedroom so the
label operations are verified by him and ensuring his boy stayed in
school to eventually graduate. “He passes off his father’s cars as his
because he can use them sometimes and ‘my papa thing na my thing’.”
Doctoring the spin
A lot of the blame has been pushed to the door of modern-day
publicists who take advantage of the naiveté of a public that continues
to be influenced by what they see in the media. It is publicists who
conveniently ‘leak pictures to the press, wire money to blogs and attach
pictures in mails with subject headers using the templates: “XYZ
spotted drinking pure water on a yacht”, “XYZ spotted with ABC: are
these two dating?”
“I think it’s time PR people become professional and learn the tools of the trade properly”, says 4lah.
Every press release announcing a rising act’s signing to a record
label reflects the usually vague words “multi-million naira recording
deal” with “a house and a car” following not far behind. ‘Endorsement
deal’ is another phrase flung about too carelessly by brand managers
even for a five-second cameo of the subject in an ad campaign for a
product. All of this is to boost perceived status and drive appearance
fees, already hefty or not, even higher. It is, of course working.
There are certain events, Akanni says, where a high-profile act, say
Ice Prince is low-key headlining pro-bono or for a quarter of his usual
fee, either for the sake of friendship or to boost his resume more
(yes!), there are C-list acts who perform at the same gig and – urged on
by their management – tweet, “Just turn up on stage; we getting paid”.
“In kind?” he asks.
The extra mile
4lah recalls a popular act visiting her at a home a while ago. When
it was time to leave, he didn’t have enough money to even get a cab back
to the mainland where he lived.
“I convinced him it would be a cheaper ride back home if he just took an okada,”
she narrates. “So I walked him to the junction and he had to use a
white face towel which he carried with him to cover his face all through
the walk to the junction and on the bike. When I told him he looked
ridiculous, he said he had to do that because we are on the island. This
is someone who displays ‘dollars’ on Instagram and hires expensive
guards and security to attend events o!”
Arrangements also exist – Akanni swears by his ancestors – between
some celebs and companies (not telecom) to ‘sign’ and announce
endorsement deals that pay nothing. All that matters to them is the tag
‘brand ambassador’. For the associated brand, free publicity is the
attraction.
Others equally go the extra mile, putting themselves and their family honour at risk.
Five Star Music – which has so many serial PR gaffes that it
qualifies to be a bull carrying its’ own china shop around – is home to
singers KCee and Harrysong, alongside ace producer Del B who leads a
silent life. While KCee denied his marriage to …, his wife of…years, his
label-mate last month was at the centre of a controversy after a
magazine interview in which he claimed that his parents were siblings.
When the backlash blew over, he backtracked.
“Some artistes, even veterans go to places like Egypt and Hungary,
pushing drugs in the name of performing. To who abeg? Places like that
have only Igbos who don’t listen to Fuji or watch Yoruba
films.” Nevertheless, tabloids celebrate their tour and the cash flows
in after any such trip, so all stays well.
Will there be an end?
Lateefah says, “My major issue with the fake lifestyle many celebs
portray is that there are young impressionable minds that look up to
them and believe it’s real. They believe all I have to do is sing like
XYZ and I will also be buying a Swarovski-encrusted Bentley! I wish
these fake lifestyles came with a disclaimer but sadly they don’t.”
These youngsters are mostly stans who will defend their favourites
till the end of time; Nairaland and the comment sections of blogs are
enough proof. A few dissenting voices however find time to ask questions
like: Where is 2Shotz’s Bentley; was it bought to never be driven? Is
D’banj still on G.O.O.D Music? How come every other Nigerian celebrity
is a UN Peace ambassador?
“No matter how much we deride the “faking it” lifestyle”, she
concludes, “as long as the media continues to report on it, we as a
collective are feeding the monster and it is not going anywhere”.
The brief enjoyment of first-class seats and publicity rush will
ultimately die down, but this monster remains and could return to hunt
these very celebrities as the internet, unlike human beings, is immune
to amnesia. Up-comers in the industry ought to take note.
take-off from Terminal 2 of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos,
destination, Abuja. Passengers were seated, but the business-class
section was conspicuously empty. On recognizing actress Eniola Badmus
who was sitting contentedly in economy class, one of the air hostesses
asked her to move over as it were, to ‘higher ground’.
Nearby, a budding
actress (we want the name na) who by a freak coincidence, had been cast
in Obi Emelonye’s Last Flight to Abuja was watching quietly. She then
politely beckoned the hostess and asked to follow suit for a short
period to – believe it or not – take photos there. Stunned, the airline
staff agreed, well aware that the images were going to be used to create
the illusion of an arrival in the big league.
There are no prizes for guessing correctly where the images will end
and how they will be framed, complete with a matching hashtag –
#FirstClassThings maybe – for the viewing pleasure of social media
users.
“It was shocking”, says Lorenzo Menakaya, also an actor, who was
aboard the same flight. “I just took one look at her and knew there was
only one place the pictures would end up – Instagram”.
Hers could be excused as “one of those things people do just for
Instagram”, says Ade Akanni, an industry watcher. ”People take pictures
with other people’s property, wording the caption so carefully it
conceals the fact that it isn’t theirs and so they can claim, ‘But I
never said it was mine’. You know?”
For others there is depth in purpose. That is why a singer, May D, in
November 2013, went as far as authorizing a statement about him
acquiring a mansion for
N150m, when in reality he had only leased one-half of the duplex.
“Many of these people lie,” says a travel agent who spoke on the
condition of anonymity. “Harrysong claims he was born in London but his
passport was a virgin one when it was submitted to me two years ago. “I
was on the same flight with Omotola returning from Italy some time ago,”
he continues. “After flying in toilet-end economy seats, she went
through business-class exit when we landed at MMIA.”
It turns out that incidents like those described are the norm, rather
than exception in an industry where ‘packaging’ – Pidgin English
parlance for the struggle to seemingly appear better than one’s current
standing – is a way of life. It rests on a fine line between faith that
things will get better and anxiety that they will not.
As a result, water is made to look like wine and stone is polished to
resemble bread. It is customary – expected even – for celebrities to
strut around like landowners of Earth and live like royalty, regardless
of whether living like this is above their means. For them and their
ilk, ‘fake it till you make it’, has graduated from being just a street
slang and evolved into a motivating mantra.
“Artistes loan cars, clothes, money they can’t pay back and
everything else just to attend events or to show off on social media and
impress fans,” says Fola ‘4lah’ Folayan, on-air personality at Naija
Info, Lagos, and founder of DearArtisteTM, an artiste career development
blog. Fola stresses that modern Nigerian artistes have taken the phrase
too literally. “We have seen those things backfire and it’s just a
colossal embarrassment,” she added.
“What we actually call packaging, is professionally known as
branding,” she explains. “Branding is an especially powerful marketing
tool for artistes because it’s all about communicating their music to
the people they want to attract. In the process, the artiste’s image
(look, outfits, mannerisms and language) online presence, event
appearances and more will have to be packaged to appeal to his target
audience.”
“Truth is celebs the world over fake it,” argues popular blogger,
Lateefah ‘That1960Chick’ Ayoola. “There are fake relationships created
by PR machines, fake marriages, fake drama, even fake babies; all done
by massive PR teams in an effort to keep the public talking about their
client. It’s all about having a public image and keeping people
talking.”
In the end, so much money and effort is spent on faking it, that
inconsistencies arise and the practitioner ends up the worse for it,
having to spend more to maintain the status quo. Those who genuinely
have the assets are of course doubted.”
The society is to blame, says Frederick Aroro, a regular commenter on Linda Ikeji’s blog: “Who loves a broke, starving artiste?”
The gospel according to Linda Ikeji
Pop culture blogger and snoop-a-holic Linda Ikeji has over the years
become the Bible of Pop for celebs and wannabes, their fans, foes and
onlookers across Nigeria. All cadres of citizens refresh her blog by the
hour for hot gist, sizzling rumours and a progress report on the Who’s
Who in Nigeria.
“If you submit a proposal to a client for publicity and he does not
see Linda Ikeji on it as a publicity outlet, he’ll smile and tell you:
‘I’ll get back to you’ and never contact you again because to him, you
are not serious”, posits Seun Oluyemi, a consultant with YNaija TV.
Accordingly, she has – and other bloggers too – been accused of
fuelling the habit of ‘packaging’ with a random post every now and then
attributing arbitrary prices to any luxury item associated with a
celebrity, for the viewing pleasure of the gullible public.
4lah defends the tribe: “Bloggers have nothing to do with this in my
opinion; after all it’s their job to blog. So they see photos and hear
stories and they blog as long as traffic is guaranteed”.
“Sometimes Linda Ikeji can say something is worth this and it doesn’t
mean it actually costs that amount”, comedian and singer, Tunde Ednut
pointed out in a polemical interview on YNaija’s talk show, Rubbin’ Minds in December 2013. He simply reinforced the beliefs of many in the know.
Ms. Ikeji has herself been accused of inflating the price of a 2011 Infiniti FX35 SUV which she claimed to have bought for N8
million – and which true to type, she blogged about. Investigations
reveal that a brand new model sells in the range of $38,084 – $42,600 (N6,207,681 – N6,943,787).
This leads us to another question. Was Linda Ikeji cheated by her car
dealer? Or was she simply practising an art she has so elevated?
Dubai chillin’
In recent years, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), Dubai, has become the new Mecca for Nigerian celebrities who
desire a vacation. Its posh hotels and classy malls beckon to
prospective customers, who have simply given up, and keep answering its
calls.
Linda seems doubly fascinated by the city – which she has previously
visited – and a number of celebrities who have holidayed there appear
hooked as well.
In January 2014, Enugu-based actress, Chike Ike holidayed there and
the (free) coverage accumulated enough footage to shoot a biopic on her,
complete with a sequel Nollywood-style. Ms. Ike who inundates social
media with pictures during her trips – claiming to ‘educate them’ as
many have never been abroad – is one of Linda’s favourites and a
rumoured close friend.
The blogger also dedicated a few posts to the ‘low-key’ white wedding
ceremony that superstar 2face and his beau, Anne Idibia decided to have
in the city dubbed “The City of Gold”. However, there was little
coverage on the blog – and on most mainstream media – of the
behind-the-scenes activity of the multitude that thronged there.
One of the guests, a former manager of an in-demand superstar, told
this reporter, “You know how Nigerians can gatecrash. Everyone wanted to
show face, just to belong and lay claim to being in 2baba’s inner
circle or brag about being able to sponsor themselves to Dubai for just a
weekend. Only about 200 guests were allowed into the main venue of the
wedding. If I call names of those who were bounced, you’ll be shocked.”
A survey of trending images released from Dubai during that period
confirms some personalities had photos taken strategically outside the
building and in the hotel lobbies and hallways before and after the
wedding, but none during the actual gig. “They did watchman outside,”
continues our source. “2face’s people warned some of them from Nigeria,
but pride didn’t allow them stay back. Everybody wanted to do ‘Awon Dubai chillin’.”
Entertainment magazine, HipHop World, documented the
gatecrashing afterwards. “Quite a number of people gave out their
invites to friends who were overjoyed to attend even if they didn’t know
Annie ad 2face personally. They made it worse by coming with other
friends who were equally not invited.”
It also spotlighted the tussle to get on the luxury boat conveying
guests to a private island for the reception, writing: “It wasn’t easy
even for 2face and Annie to get onto their own love boat. Two-time
senator, Florence Ita-Giwa, tried to get in but she was pushed back.”
Star Wars
Perhaps the most salient reason for passing off as being equally rich
and famous stems from the desire to keep up with the Kardashians’
Joneses. From time to time, it is commonplace for entertainers and their
posse, to bump across colleagues and brag about their appearance or
status and jokingly diss their comrades’. So it becomes imperative that
everyone buckle up or pretends to, so as to prevent a repeat occurrence.
The celebrity wars also take another dimension intermittently as a
string of other celebs stoop to indict their own; from TV personality
Uti Nwachukwu – whose relationship with newbie Saeon is viewed with a
level of suspicion reserved for grand publicity stunts – to Port
Harcourt supremo, Duncan Mighty, seen posing with a Phantom Rolls Royce
he “borrowed” for a video shoot.
For so long, it was assumed that pop-star duo, PSquare were the
owners of a private jet in which they appeared to always be lounging in
and taking pictures of. Granted, they did not precisely say –or tweet –
that they owned one but, and quite importantly, they created the
illusion that they did. Like a bolt from the blue, in that December 2013
Rubbin’ Minds interview, Tunde Ednut revealed that the twins
did not own a private jet. The aircraft they were seen lounging in is,
according to Ednut, the toy of multimillionaire Togolese footballer,
Emmanuel Adebayor, a good friend of the Okoyes.
“Even almighty PSquare get intimidated too”, sneers Akanni.
“60-70% of the things we see are majorly hype. We know those who have
and those who are just hype”, Ednut declared with a note of finality,
ending with lyrics better than any his music career has churned – “its
show business; show your business or fake it till you make it”.
Some arrogate their family property to themselves too as is the case
of Davido (real name, David Adeleke) whose fleet of cars do not all
belong to him directly but to his billionaire father who owns a car
dealership. According to a family insider, the elder Adeleke is very
controlling, even locking HKN letterhead papers in his bedroom so the
label operations are verified by him and ensuring his boy stayed in
school to eventually graduate. “He passes off his father’s cars as his
because he can use them sometimes and ‘my papa thing na my thing’.”
Doctoring the spin
A lot of the blame has been pushed to the door of modern-day
publicists who take advantage of the naiveté of a public that continues
to be influenced by what they see in the media. It is publicists who
conveniently ‘leak pictures to the press, wire money to blogs and attach
pictures in mails with subject headers using the templates: “XYZ
spotted drinking pure water on a yacht”, “XYZ spotted with ABC: are
these two dating?”
“I think it’s time PR people become professional and learn the tools of the trade properly”, says 4lah.
Every press release announcing a rising act’s signing to a record
label reflects the usually vague words “multi-million naira recording
deal” with “a house and a car” following not far behind. ‘Endorsement
deal’ is another phrase flung about too carelessly by brand managers
even for a five-second cameo of the subject in an ad campaign for a
product. All of this is to boost perceived status and drive appearance
fees, already hefty or not, even higher. It is, of course working.
There are certain events, Akanni says, where a high-profile act, say
Ice Prince is low-key headlining pro-bono or for a quarter of his usual
fee, either for the sake of friendship or to boost his resume more
(yes!), there are C-list acts who perform at the same gig and – urged on
by their management – tweet, “Just turn up on stage; we getting paid”.
“In kind?” he asks.
The extra mile
4lah recalls a popular act visiting her at a home a while ago. When
it was time to leave, he didn’t have enough money to even get a cab back
to the mainland where he lived.
“I convinced him it would be a cheaper ride back home if he just took an okada,”
she narrates. “So I walked him to the junction and he had to use a
white face towel which he carried with him to cover his face all through
the walk to the junction and on the bike. When I told him he looked
ridiculous, he said he had to do that because we are on the island. This
is someone who displays ‘dollars’ on Instagram and hires expensive
guards and security to attend events o!”
Arrangements also exist – Akanni swears by his ancestors – between
some celebs and companies (not telecom) to ‘sign’ and announce
endorsement deals that pay nothing. All that matters to them is the tag
‘brand ambassador’. For the associated brand, free publicity is the
attraction.
Others equally go the extra mile, putting themselves and their family honour at risk.
Five Star Music – which has so many serial PR gaffes that it
qualifies to be a bull carrying its’ own china shop around – is home to
singers KCee and Harrysong, alongside ace producer Del B who leads a
silent life. While KCee denied his marriage to …, his wife of…years, his
label-mate last month was at the centre of a controversy after a
magazine interview in which he claimed that his parents were siblings.
When the backlash blew over, he backtracked.
“Some artistes, even veterans go to places like Egypt and Hungary,
pushing drugs in the name of performing. To who abeg? Places like that
have only Igbos who don’t listen to Fuji or watch Yoruba
films.” Nevertheless, tabloids celebrate their tour and the cash flows
in after any such trip, so all stays well.
Will there be an end?
Lateefah says, “My major issue with the fake lifestyle many celebs
portray is that there are young impressionable minds that look up to
them and believe it’s real. They believe all I have to do is sing like
XYZ and I will also be buying a Swarovski-encrusted Bentley! I wish
these fake lifestyles came with a disclaimer but sadly they don’t.”
These youngsters are mostly stans who will defend their favourites
till the end of time; Nairaland and the comment sections of blogs are
enough proof. A few dissenting voices however find time to ask questions
like: Where is 2Shotz’s Bentley; was it bought to never be driven? Is
D’banj still on G.O.O.D Music? How come every other Nigerian celebrity
is a UN Peace ambassador?
“No matter how much we deride the “faking it” lifestyle”, she
concludes, “as long as the media continues to report on it, we as a
collective are feeding the monster and it is not going anywhere”.
The brief enjoyment of first-class seats and publicity rush will
ultimately die down, but this monster remains and could return to hunt
these very celebrities as the internet, unlike human beings, is immune
to amnesia. Up-comers in the industry ought to take note.