It’s true that Kaffy is the biggest dancer in Nigeria. By a dint of hard work and plenty of determination, she has moved from gyrating with Lexy Doo to setting Guinness World Records and becoming a judge on a television show. She has done well for herself, no doubt.
But it is ridiculous that she would claim that an artiste owes her for three months. So at no point of her 15-year career has she learnt that verbal agreements are meaningless. Has her inclusion on Project Fame‘s faculty not taught her that the only binding thing in a fluid industry like entertainment is a motherfucking contract?!
READ: NET Exclusive: ‘I have a problem with Davido. He’s not serious and owes me for 3 months’ – Kaffy
The truth of the matter is, dancers – like video vixens – have no idea what their place is in the music business. They do not know that what they do is a talent, a service that ought to be properly compensated. Did you hear how Kaffy described the payment the dancers were supposed to receive for their work? Paltry. She called it ‘paltry’.
It is paltry because many of them get into the game by being members of an entourage and hoping to sleep their way up the ladder. Once they get passes to shows and are allowed into nightclubs, they assume that their career has taken off.
Of course this is not to say that every dancer sleeps with artistes and video directors, but it is common knowledge within the industry what happens on the sets of music videos and backstage of shows.
READ: ‘I’m always used to being the victim’ – Davido speaks on Kaffy’s angry video
Kaffy’s intentions might have been noble to start with, claiming that she’s fighting for the upcoming dancers that Davido treated badly; but with the latter’s denial and her subsequent interview with us where she said she wasn’t talking about the 3 Thrones Concert but the One Music Africa Festival back in July, what was made clear is that she still doesn’t get how the industry works. She said even companies owe her. Ah, Kafaya you no try!
How many times have you heard artistes and producers go at each other for ‘concept theft’ and ‘stolen ideas’? It goes on all the time in our growing music industry. On the flip side, how many times do you hear it in the foreign market? Almost never. That’s because the business part of ‘showbiz’ is taken more seriously than the ‘show’ part.
READ: Fans take sides over Davido and Kaffy’s feud
Nothing is left to chance. Artistes sign contracts with songwriters, producers, vocalists, dancers, video vixens – everybody has a document stating exactly is expected of them. At a point, Britney Spears‘ dancers had to sign contracts that forbade them from consuming drugs and alcohol anywhere near the pop star.
Until everybody in the Nigerian entertainment ecosystem understands that it is a business that ought to be conducted properly, there would always be cases like this one. Beyond twerking and grinding on stage, dancers need to get some education and learn that that is not what they’re there for.
The artiste has a contract with the show organisers. His 20 minutes or whatever time his performance lasts is not for free. Missing the show would have consequences. In the same vein, dancers that are recruited for the set ought to have some indemnity against matters like this. That a senior dancer like Kaffy doesn’t know that is quite disgraceful.
But then, like I said earlier, most of them are there for the thrills. For their sake they need to to learn where the thrill ends and work begins.
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