Two Years After His Death, Skibii Did Not Sill Blow.

‘Publicity is the vehicle of every brand’ as it is one thing to create a product and another to ensure that it is well received by your expected consumers. The crave for the tinniest opportunity to get in the eyes of the public is twice as excessive in the showbiz industry because attention is the currency for opportunities.

What use is a public figure with no public attention or command?

The yen for publicity has birthed the use of propaganda and various discrete methods to drive the attention of both the public and the media. The showbiz industry in Nigeria is in no way exempted from the PR craze.

Most of the time, the intended attention is earned but the integrity of the brand is somewhat threatened. The risk of losing ‘integrity’ doesn’t however mean so much to a lot of people as we have seen many brands (celebrities, individuals and organizations) play on the intelligence and emotions of the public in a bid a garner attention at the expense of their integrity. One of such is Nigerian music label – Fivestar Music owned by Kcee’s brother E-Money and for a while, home him and Harrysongs.

On the 14th of August 2015, we woke up to a news that rising Fivestar music act – Skiibii had passed away. Concerned industry colleagues began to grieve over his death and shared messages of condolence across social media. Soon pictures of Skiibii flooded the internet. He wasn’t famous – only insiders knew him; ‘Who is this Skiibii guy? What exactly killed him?, Why are celebrities posting his pictures? Is he a musician?

The answers to all these questions were not available so lovers of showbiz began to inquire. ‘He is a musician, he slumped and died’ we gathered. ‘Oh what a wicked world, he was still very young’ were the reactions flying around.

All attempts to get an official statement from Fivestar music were fruitless. Soon the public got wind of the truth – it was all a publicity stunt! Skiibii is alive.

As expected, Fivestar music tried to manage the situation. ‘It was a case of miscommunication’ they explained. They announced that their long time manager, Soso Sobrekon had been fired.The deed was already done and the needed attention had already been garnered. Skiibii went from an underground industry pet with a subset of followers to a rising musician with thousands of followers. By the way, Soso was still very much part of the crew.

Sadly for the singer, his talent didn’t match the attention. He’s attempted to prove himself with a few releases in the past two years, but nothing is still happening for Skiibii. Years might have gone by, but Nigerians have not forgotten. Many including his colleagues have fired subtle jabs at him over the fake death incident.

‘Even If you fake your own death, you fit still no blow’ – Falz the Bahd Guy.

Two years down the line, one would expect that Fivestar music has learnt not to play with the emotions of the public. But no, they are still in the business of exchanging respect and integrity for attention.

In July 2017, the Nigerian Senate passed the bill for the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign [which advocated the need for the younger generation to be given a shot at contesting for important office positions in government]. It was all joy and excitement amongst young Nigerians when the Senate made the announcement. While many saw it as a chance for true change and a step in the right direction for our great nation, some opportunists saw it as a chance to snag the attention of the public.

Amongst many other attention seeking showbiz practitioners, Kcee of Fivestar music announced his interest to run for Governor in the forthcoming gubernatorial race in Anambra state. He went on to announce his campaign theme as; Attention to detail. Mixed reaction brewed, ‘what exactly is Kcee up to?’ the internet began to converse – once again attention has been garnered then puff!! Kcee announced that he’ll be releasing a new album and the title of the album would be ‘Attention to detail’.

There you go! The Fivestar Music culture. Few weeks later, Kcee released the ‘Attention the Detail’ album and spoke no further about his interest to run for office.

Did someone say integrity?