Entertainment
Valentine’s Day Fallout: How Basket Mouth Ruled Wembley Arena
Ace Nigerian Comedian, Bright Okpocha popularly known by his stage name as Basketmouth, made history on Valentine’s Day at the SSE Arena, Wembley London, as fans came out to support and watch Nigeria’s biggest comedy export as he became the first and only African comedian to headline Wembley arena.
Basketmouth thrilled the audience with an hour and 30 minutes of unrestricted and pure comedy, coupled with a few surprises for the audience, which made it a valentine to remember, and received a standing ovation from the entire arena. The mayor of Brent was in attendance, accompanied by the MP of Brent; Dawn Butler, who confessed to being a huge Basket mouth fan.
Speaking on the success of the event, Mr Ropo Akin CEO Cokobar Event Promoters who has supported Basket-mouth in the UK for the last 10 years, said they are elated as it is a big win for not just Nigerians but Africa as a whole. Basket mouth started showbiz as a rapper, he formed a group called “Da Psychophats” which had 7 members, and they started going for shows and rapping in 1995.
This did not go down well, the group broke up and he formed another rap group known as “Da Oddz” with his brother Godwin and Muyiwa Osunrobi. This venture was equally unsuccessful, as their style of rap was not popular in the Nigerian arena. Basketmouth’s career started around 2000 when he met one of the fathers of comedy in Nigeria, Ali Baba. His professional stand up comedy act came into play in 2001.
During these defining years, Basketmouth and his team launched his one-man standup comedy concert tagged “Basketmouth Uncensored”, a show that reached every form of success. The show witnessed 4 years, 2005 – 2009 and each of the instalment was a sold out concert.
He stopped hosting the show to introduce other comedy brand “Lords of the Ribs”, “Nigerian kings of Comedy”, “African Kings of Comedy” and “Laffs in Jamz” in 2014 after which the popular comedian re-launched his one-man comedy show which was unarguably one of the best he has done.
R&B star, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has recounted the early-career challenges she faced, revealing that she was once booed out of the stage while performing at a school event.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmen, the Crazy Tings crooner shared that she wasn’t only booed but was also harassed with plastic bottles.
“I remember one time I was going to perform at my school as an up-and-coming singer and I thought I was going to receiving a standing ovation.
“But I got booed. They even threw plastic bottles at me,” she recalled.
Tems explained that despite the embarrassing incident and other such rejections, she remained determined to pursue a career in music.
The Tide Entertainment reports that Tems admitted that some of the initial rejections she faced could be due to her conviction to stick to her originality instead of doing covers or familiar sounds like most of her peers.
The Grammy-winning singer said looking back now, she is glad that she didn’t compromise her style despite the initial pressures.
A close associate of late singer Mohbad, Primeboy, has appealed for the artiste’s burial nearly three years after his death.
According to him, Mohbad’s body remains in the mortuary since September 12, 2023, pending burial arrangements.
The Tide Entertainment reports that in a statement Primeboy urged the family, public, and government to permit the burial, stating, “It’s been almost three years since Mohbad left us. His body is still in the mortuary. I’m begging the family, I’m begging the public, I’m begging the government, please let’s bury our brother. He deserves a befitting burial.”
It would be recalled that Mohbad’s death sparked public outrage, protests, and investigations. Ongoing autopsy examinations, police inquiries, and legal proceedings have delayed burial arrangements amid family disagreements and public scrutiny.
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