Entertainment
Davido, Wizkid In Battle Of Supremacy
Every major music award organiser in Nigeria agreed on one thing in 2016, Wizkid deserved the a ward for the artiste of the year. It was quite easy to figure out that it was on the basis of his collaboration with Drake that they reached this conclusion.
According to a recent report in the social media, the song on which the two collaborated, ‘One Dance, was a major hit home and abroad. It even made Drake’s ‘views’ album one of the most circulated albums around the world, for last year. The success of the song broke through the glass ceiling as far as the Nigerian music was concerned. It was no ordinary feat for a Nigerian artiste.
In the world music clan, ‘One Dance’ was perhaps the biggest 2016 song involving a Nigerian artiste. But within the borders of the Nigerian music industry, another song was number one. Tekno’s ‘Pana’ by any account was the biggest song in Nigeria for 2016. Some said it was the national anthem of the year.
Tekno recorded an unprecedented success with the song yet he did not stop there, he went further releasing hit to more hits, two of his songs Pana and Diana could have made the list for song of the year if possible. All these summed up to make Tekno a faviourite for the artiste of the year award. The award for the artiste of the year has always been conferred on the artiste with the biggest songs in the year and technically Tekno was the man for the award in 2016.
However, something adventurous happened, the industry experienced a new orientation. Nigerian music grew its audience to accommodate the world. While this is pleasing, it comes with a dilemma of how we would judge our artistes, would it mean that the exploits of artistes on the international stage would be the yard stick for awarding them?
The quiz is becoming more pressing with the activities of Wizkid and Davido Wizkid is climbing higher in the international stage with ‘Daddy Yo’, ‘Come Closer”. African Bad Girl’ and his featured appearenace, but in Nigeria, Davido’s ‘If’ and now ‘Fall’ are the leading songs.
If the race continues like this, there would be enough songs to go around, enough money would be made as well, fans might even struggle to choose a favourite song, at the close of the year, but in the end, the headache would be for the award organisers to make the right arguments on their powerful table and hopefully in the end they would settle for the deserving choice of artiste of the year which already looks to be one of Wizkid or Davido.
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.