Charles Novia Writes On Olamide/Don Jazzy Headies Saga

The Headies 2015 (which ironically held on the first day of
2016) was an anti-climax after that. And perhaps the public tantrums of both
Don Jazzy and Olamide were the highlights of what was before then an above
average telecast with glaring lapses which could have been remedied with more
precision.

When the artistes nominated in the ‘Next Rated..’ category
were shown in a mini-documentary somewhere in the show, taking photo-ops in the
Hyundai SUV and pleading for votes from their fans so as to win the prize, I
told myself after seeing the earnest expectations on their faces that this
category would surely be competitive but would have some bad blood drawn
thereafter.

The visuals of the four nominated acts seated side-by-side
in the hall thereafter, being interviewed by the Hip TV Presenter just before
the category was announced also showed an unease amongst them even if they were
trying to put up aloof facades.

Korede Bello, Kiss Daniel, L’il Kesh and Reekado Banks. Four
nominees in perhaps the ‘closest-to-call’ category in The Headies ever. Looking
at the list, they each had hits in 2015. But in my personal opinion ( which I’m
entitled to, innit?) I would have pruned the list at the final stage to just
two; Korede Bello and Kiss Daniel.

‘Godwin’ was probably the biggest song of 2015, transcending
both the secular and gospel charts and finding resonance all across Africa. How
could such a song not get the artiste a winner in that category? On the other
hand, ‘Woju’ by Kiss Daniel was another monster hit in 2015 which certainly
would have won him that prize without raising eyebrows.

With due respect to Reekado Banks, I don’t think his ‘
Katapot’ track was that much of a phenomenal hit in 2015 but it was a good
track. And L’il Kesh too, who was touted by Olamide as having back to back hits
in 2015 ( by his reckoning) stood a chance as well but I would say a misfit of
personal branding by the YBNL team for Kesh might have added to his loss in
that category. Club and dance hits are different from acclaimed general hits
when it comes to the brass tacks and ‘Gbese Re’ was huge on the club and dance
circuits but can’t be termed a huge hit compared to Korede’s and Kiss’

Thus, when Reekado won, I was one of the surprised folks
watching on television. Obviously this didn’t go down well with Olamide, on
whose label Kesh is signed on to and he went on a profane and perhaps
alcohol-induced rant onstage a few minutes later, calling out the organisers
and storming off the stage thereafter.

Don Jazzy, the acclaimed Producer, who is the Head Huncho at
Mavin Records which has Reekado as one of its acts, picked up the gauntlet a
few minutes after while receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award and called out
Olamide. He asked Olamide to come take the car won by Reekado and stormed out
of the awards with his crew.

Olamide later went on twitter to rant more expletives on Don
Jazzy.

Both artistes were wrong on many fronts. For Olamide, his
open inebriation on stage calls for much questioning of his public conduct when
he’s not in performance mode. As he boasts in his songs, he might have packed
halls and swayed trends in the past year but trying a Kanye West onstage at The
Headies was ill-advised. One should ask this question ( which I will also throw
at Don Jazzy later as well) that if L’il Kesh had back to back hits as Olamide
claimed, why didn’t YBNL deem it fit to buy him a car ( if he hasn’t any) all
these months?

And Don Jazzy too should have stuffed it when he said that
he had told Korede and Reekado not to bother themselves about the car if they
didn’t win because he would buy them a car. Really? Did he mean to tell us that
with all the shows and endorsements both acts had last year under his
management, there wasn’t any ‘change’ left to buy his acts cars?

If that’s the case, something is wrong somewhere.

 Don Jazzy screwed up
though by calling out Olamide in his speech especially as Olamide never
mentioned his name. But to a discerning mind, it seems those two had festering
issues before last night and that incident was the last straw.

  

Mutual discontent and petty misgivings are common in the
entertainment industry. I am never fooled by put-on smiles and show of
camaderie most times by artistes as they are human like everyone else. What
sets off animousities are usually a struggle for a space on top; a definition
of ambitious egos or just plain loathing for petty reasons.

The struggle and not the hustle is what is real. Territorial
dominance and egotistical relevance.

The major beneficiary from all this, in spite of the furore
over the winner, is Hyundai. The brand now has more exposure than it bargained
for and everyone would remember the brand for months to come. No publicity is
bad at all in this regard for them.

To think that Don Jazzy and Olamide did a collabo a couple
of years back and an anaemic one too, in my opinion. A song which didn’t make
sense and was soon forgotten as soon as it came out.

With the storm over this award and the degenerative possibilities
it portends, one can only suggest to Hyundai to come out with a new model
inspired by this.

And calling that model ‘Hyundai Skelemba’ won’t be a bad
idea. The sales might just be something the company can ‘bank’ on.