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Basket Mouth Returns To Music

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Bright Okpocha, aka Basketmouth is certified on these streets. Having run the comedy game for nearly two decades, Basketmouth has returned to music, his first love with the release of Yabasi. This album also serves as a soundtrack to his new comedy series, Papa Benji.
“I started working on the project called Papa Benji it’s an online comedy series and it’s situated in a beer parlour and one thing in a beer parlour apart from beer is music, so I started running around meeting artistes telling them, ‘I need your song’,” Basketmouth said in an interview.
“I didn’t want limitation to where I could take songs to. So what I did was, I decided to make my own music and the great thing about it is that I always wanted to create a new kind of sound.
“My first attempt was in 1995. I tried it with one of the old PSR but l needed to disk to save files so it was really hectic.
“I always wanted to blend the Igbo music with Hip-hop. When the idea came, I was like, this is the perfect time to do it. So that’s what made me do it. That’s the core reason. Apart from that, music was my first love.”
Music was indeed Basketmouth’s first love. He fell in love with hip-hop as a teenager in Kirikiri neighbourhood of Lagos. He and his friends then created a six-man rap group called The Psychopaths.
Heavily influenced by the legendary American hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, The Psychopaths went around their neighbourhood battling other rappers. Basketmouth remembered a particular battle in Festac which his crew finished second.
“We did a lot of stuff. I used to open for Plantashun Boiz,” he added.
Aside from some underground buzz, Basketmouth’s rap career never took off. He spoke of a bad stage experience that changed the course of his journey in entertainment.
“I was on stage, I like to be creative with some stuff. So I went to the DJ and so we worked on a beat, you know the song by Fela ‘Everybody Run Run Run’.
“We made it into Hip-hop. So I created the beat and told my guys and they loved it. And when we got on stage, they were not ready for that. This was 1998, they were not ready for that.
“This was hardcore, it was too confusing. What will happen was that anytime we said ‘everybody run run run,’ they said ‘get out’.
“When I knew it was ‘get out’ they were saying, I was very upset. So I told the DJ, ‘let’s stop I want to face these guys’ and I started firing them.”
In a move that birthed his comedy career, Basketmouth faced the dismissive crowd and returned with verbal violence, using his wit to get back at them.
“I started entering everybody, one after the other. For straight 30 minutes, I was on them and after I was done, one of my guys, Ena Ofugara walked up to me and was like ‘Bright, you should do comedy’.
“Then Samson Ehimohai, he’s late now, was one of the guys that also influenced that idea. He was like ‘do it’.

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Why Fans No Longer Faint For Musicians – Paul Okoye

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Nigerian singer and half of the defunct P-Square duo, Paul Okoye, aka Rudeboy, has claimed that social media has reduced the prestige and value fans attached to musicians due to the mystique that artistes had before the era of social media.
Speaking in a recent interview with Lun Lifestyle TV, Rudeboy argued that social media, despite all its benefits, has shattered the illusion of artistes being mysterious and godlike.
This he said has reduced the buzz artistes previously enjoyed whenever their fans got the opportunity to see them whether physically or visually.
The ‘Reason With Me’ crooner explained that because artistes are no longer mysterious, fans are no longer eager to watch them in music videos.
He claimed that shooting music videos is now a waste of money.
Rudeboy said, “Music videos somehow now, because of this generation, is a waste of money. I am sorry to say this. But do you remember us [P-Square] before? You don’t see us anywhere. You just watch music videos, you see us and that’s it, or we come to your country, you see us.
“The reason you don’t see people faint for artistes anymore is because they see them on TikTok every day dancing and promoting your music. If Michael Jackson was alive now and doing promotional content on social media, nobody would see him and faint.
“Unfortunately, it’s too late for us to bring back the era of artistes being mystiques. How can you advise an artiste to post every day? How? Post what? You don’t need to.
“Social media brought positive change to the industry but it also led to ‘see-finish.’ Artistes are now too exposed. Fans see how they eat, cry. Before when artistes go to club, they stay in restricted VIP areas, but now when they are clubbing, everyone is filming.”

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Davido’s Aide Offers Cash Reward For Missing Phone At Zlatan’s Wedding

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Afrobeats superstar, Davido’s aide, Damilare Aladegbola, popularly known as Dre, has offered a cash reward to whoever returns his phone, which he claims went missing during rapper Zlatan Ibile’s wedding ceremony.
Dre made the appeal in a post on his Instagram page on Monday, pleading with the person who allegedly took the device to return it in exchange for money.
“If na u carry my phone for Zlatan wedding, abeg return am, I go give you money please,” he wrote.
The aide also expressed frustration over what he suggested was a method being used to take phones at social gatherings.
He said he would no longer tolerate waiters asking whether guests had finished eating so they could clear their plates, alleging that the practice could provide an opportunity for phones left on tables to be taken.
“From now on, if I go any party or dey any party and any stupid waitress tell me say are you done eating so I can pack your plate, na swear I go swear for you cause na pattern wey una dey use pack phone for table be that now,” he added.
However, Dre did not identify anyone suspected of taking his phone or provide further details about how the device went missing.
Zlatan Ibile tied the knot with his longtime partner, Davita Lamai, during a traditional wedding ceremony on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
The ceremony, held in Lagos, attracted several celebrities, fans and well-wishers, with Davido among the prominent guests and leading the groomsmen.

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I Ran Away From Nigeria, Never Wanted To Come Back-Chidinma

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Popular singer, Chidinma Ekile has revealed that before transitioning from secular music to the gospel genre, she “ran away” from Nigeria.
Speaking at a recent Eezee Conceptz event, Chidinma explained that she travelled abroad and wanted to secure permanent residency because she didn’t want to return to Nigeria, but failed.
She revealed that while she was abroad, the CEO of Eezee Conceptz was the only person calling her from Nigeria, so she decided to work with him upon her return.
“I travelled. I ran away from Nigeria. I was processing my papers not to come back to Nigeria, but for some reason, it didn’t work.
“While I was abroad, the CEO of Eezee Conceptz was the only one who was calling me from Nigeria. He kept encouraging me, and I found the strength to come back to Nigeria. When I came back, I asked him to give me a gospel music contract because I want to spend time with God. And he gave me a contract that even my lawyer said seemed like a charity,” Chidinma stated.
The music star added that she did not transition into gospel music because she wanted to make gospel, but because she wanted a serious relationship with God.

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