Nigerian artistes have a love-hate relationship with the media. They hate us for asking them uncomfortable questions. They hate us for calling them out on bullshit. And whenever we dare to query their talent (or glaring lack thereof), their belligerence takes on a hilarious turn.
But they cannot entirely do without the media. Much as it is easy for them to reach out to their fans via social media (and they do a lot of that), they still need media practitioners to tell their story. Even when they are ranting and cursing entertainment journalists out on Twitter and in their songs, when the dust settles they know how to get their managers to send those pesky ‘Kindly use on your esteemed platform’ emails we get all the frigging time.
Like America’s new commander-in-chief, any news that does not praise them is ‘fake’ and is ‘written by haters.’ In their closed off mind, all journalists do is sit in the room and come up with stories to paint them in a bad light- even when the story is true.
While no one expects them not to have an angle they would prefer for a story to be told, it reeks of puerile arrogance to refuse to answer a question one day and then throw a tantrum when the actual facts are found out and reported by the media.
Here is a scenario journalists are all too familiar with: there are reports of Artiste X calling quits with his wife. She edits out her husband’s name from her social media pages. Journalist calls him to find out what actually is happening. He flares up and demands not to be asked that type of question. ‘Get your facts right before asking me anything!’. Eskiss sah, the fact is what I’m trying to get by calling you na! Eventually things fall apart, wife moves out- neighbours actually see her moving her things away from the home with a van and Artiste blames the media for breaking up his marriage. Congratulations sir, you played yourself. (NB: this is a hypothetical description and not actual reportage of anybody’s story no matter how familiar it sounds. Thank you).
It is understandable that celebrities sometimes feel intruded upon. It sucks. I personally do not want to be a known face that cannot move freely in the mall without having selfie-sticks stuck in my face or have area boys assembling by my car for ‘settlement’. That is the price of the fame they enjoy. They have spent all the years trying to get to the point that they are now known and it is rather naive that fans who they share the good parts of their lives with won’t want to know when it’s not all peachy.
Perhaps they need to come to an understanding that journalists care more about their art more than they themselves. Many of them make no bones of their desire to profit as much as they can for their art. They’ve earned it and we do not fault them for that.
However, it is the media’s duty to tell the stories. As with life itself, it cannot all be good. The media that reported Davido’s million dollar deal has earned the right to report that he and his manager have fallen out. That is not mischievous, that is simply telling the story. It makes it all the more laughable when they scream ‘Get your facts rights’ when they have refused to answer the dang question.
Their lives will be a lot easier when they learn to communicate, not rant. Like a Nigerian rap legend once told me in the cold harmattan air of a January night as we kicked it on the front porch of his Lekki home that stood next to his office, the average Nigerian artiste will last for only five years. The truly fortunate say, ten years. Since we’ve had that conversation, his record label has been disbanded and he has moved back to the US. Even the biggest global hit of that year, Gagnam Style is all but forgotten. All the media houses that talked about it- and them- are still here.
Beefing with journalists does our artistes no good, especially when they’re the ones not telling the truth. It makes them look silly. Plus in a battle of wit, journalists will always win. Always.