- Local and international celebrities have made headlines for all the wrong reasons
- In showbiz there is nothing like bad publicity
It was something bizarre and with a morbid theme. For hip-hop heads, it was reminiscent of the MTV Music Video Awards, many years back, where Snoop Dogg recreated a funeral scene on stage, complete with wailing mourners and a choir. In this case, pallbearers wearing black hoodies carried the casket and when they put it down, Khaligraph Jones came out it holding a microphone. Suddenly, there was silence.
This was at Uhuru Gardens where the annual Jameson Connects Kenya 2017 Experience concert was going down, thousands of showbiz fans who had thronged the venue could not believe their eyes as the rapper stretched out of the wooden casket like a resurrected man.
“This is a taboo,” someone shouted from the crowd.
“What!” another one exclaimed. As this wave of uncertainty reigned, Khaligraph commanded the stage with his Mazishi track, a controversial 2016 release that has the rapper dissing other artistes as he depicts their “death”. Most of the video was acted at a graveyard.
Similarly, Snoop Dogg was setting the stage to perform ‘Murder was the Case’. Earlier, he had been charged with murder and this macabre display was a protest to the authorities, proclaiming his innocence.
Mazishi too was controversial and the subject of beef as it reared its head when Octopizzo took on Khaligraph with a diss-track, renewing their rivalry. Something Khaligraph did not take lightly. In fact at some point, Khaligraph invited Nasty C to join him on stage only for the South African rapper to give him a cold shoulder. Ty Dolla tried to intervene in vain. It was like the eagle of doom was reigning.
It is not the first time a local artiste was pulling a controversial display. From vulgar lyrics directed at others, to weird videos, shocking stage acts, nude photos, drugs, sex-tape leaks and other scandals, celebrities have always tried to use controversy in their showbiz game to create an impact or put a message across.
In October this year, Eric Omondi and Khaligraph had a beef just, before it came out that that they were doing this to increase numbers before the launching of Olla – a new social networking application in which they were participating.
Eric claimed that Khaligraph was flossing with a Range Rover that belonged to a sugar mummy. Khaligraph went ahead to insult and accuse Eric, even going ahead to say that he had hooked him with the first gig ever where he was paid Sh25,000. This turned to be the fake diss of the year.
“Controversy hizo drama sifeel,” reads the opening lines from Stonee Jiwe’s song Drama, which he uses to address the controversy in the music industry. He may have taken a bold step to address the issue but just like an addict he too has been hooked.
After releasing the song, Stonee Jiwe found himself making headlines for the wrong reasons. He featured in Mayonde’s song Nairobi and it was after that when word started going round that the two were an item.
“There is nothing like that. We are just close friends. I’ve known Mayonde from way back even before she became famous so these are just rumours,” he defended as he sought to clear himself when Pulse called to get clarification.
Gospel fraternity’s cry baby Bahati came out guns blazing last year accusing Daddy Owen of taking advantage of Denno’s state to swindle him cash from their hit song Mbona. Most people saw Bahati’s move as that of a good brother coming to the rescue of one of his own; though some were sceptical and true, less than a month later they released a song together.
In 2015 he accused his frenemy Willy Paul of stealing a song from him, a move that rubbed Willy Paul the wrong way. In his reply, he urged Bahati to embrace fellow artistes. In the run up to the Groove Awards, Bahati posted a message on social media apologising to the fans for not doing real gospel music and further saying that this year’s Groove Male Artiste of the Year category should be a battle between Sauti Sol and Nyashinski after they released Kuliko Jana and Mungu Pekee respectively. Sauti Sol’s Bien called him out terming the move childish and accusing Bahati of making music to win awards something they (Sauti Sol) don’t.
Comedian Eric Omondi also joined the bandwagon criticising him for what he called sympathy-seeking stunts. Before releasing his Mapenzi, song which features his wife Diana Marua in the video, Bahati first released photos online which left people talking and alleging that he may have gotten married secretly, but this was just a move to keep people talking days before releasing the song.
Just before he got married to Diana, Bahati courted rumours that he had a baby with Yvette Obura, which were proven to be true in an exposé by Pulse, apparently he had taken the baby for a normal day out with Diana and took photos introducing the baby to the world, a move that did not go down well with Yvette.
With the controversy surrounding his life, Bahati has always attracted sympathy from fans and it always seem to propel his career.
Willy Paul is no stranger to controversy and even got featured in our article of “Celebs that Kenyans love to hate”. A simple post on social media attracts the wrath of critics who seem always ready to criticise his every move. Well the hate or love whichever way one looks at it hasn’t just come too easily.
When starting out in her career, socialite Pendo alleged that she slept with Willy Paul. Claims he came out denying but seemed to catapult his career forward. Indeed from time to time, Willy Paul has been accused by different ladies of sleeping with them then dumping them. So bad were the claims that he once confessed to an insider that if he was going to miss heaven, then it will be because of his love for women. Before releasing I do with Jamaican singer Alaine, Willy Paul pulled a controversial move, first releasing photos of Alaine and him having a wedding as the two painted a picture that they were in love and already married.
Alaine even went ahead to say that she had found her Mr Right.
While celebrity controversy works for some, it can also turn to be a deadly move than can threaten to kill a star’s career overnight.
Even though it is not clear whether he was the man behind it, DJ Crème de la Crème’s sex tape became the talk of town in 2015 and as the tape made rounds on social media something that some saw as a career-killer, the DJ’s fame shot up after he manned up and faced his past.
Risper Faith, Vera Sidika, Huddah Monroe and Pendo may have one thing in common. They are all socialites, but away from that they all have stories that read out like a movie script. Their rise to fame can be credited to the release of their nude photos online which left many men drooling.
This script may have worked well for Vera and Huddah, which has seen them bag different deals and stand out as the most successful socialites in town; for Risper Faith and Pendo this idea may have backfired badly. The controversy in their lives may have attracted followers on social media but it didn’t work beyond that.
Prezzo in an old cat in the music game, he will be remembered as one of the flashiest celebs in Kenya. From his relationship with Sheila Mwanyigha to his divorce with Daisy Kiplagat and his beef with Jaguar; Prezzo always has a way to stay on top. Recently, he’s had an on-and-off beef with Moustapha who claims that his game in bed is better than Prezzo’s thus explaining why girls have been breaking up with Prezzo and hooking up with him. One of the girls, bisexual rapper Noti Flow, however, moved against the tide and marked her territory, Prezzo, by warning ladies to stay off her man in an interview with Pulse and even expressed her displeasure at him being too close to his mother. Noti Flow was dating Moustapha but broke up with him and hooked up with Prezzo. However, all this seemed like to a well-schemed controversy by the two to get their showbiz ratings up.
Sharon Mundia shot to fame through her blog This is Ess. The fame grew more after her then boyfriend, Lonina Leteipan, chartered a chopper that flew them to Mt. Kenya where he proposed; to which she gladly said “Yes”. The two got married in a beach wedding that was an invite-only even but the marriage hit the rocks as rumours of marital infidelity emerged. Sharon deactivated her social media accounts, but when she came back she amassed an even a bigger number of followers than she had before. Her ratings have since gone sky high thanks to the controversy.
Nyota Ndogo in recent times seems to have also found comfort in controversy. She recently attracted the wrath of many women for a post on Facebook. In the post Nyota condemns young women who sleep with married men saying that they should ‘get stuck’ while having sex and ends the post by calling them stupid. This is not the first time Nyota has been on the receiving end of controversy; she once took to Instagram to clear the air about claims that she snatched someone’s husband.
Recently, she washed her family’s dirty linen in public alleging that her brother Juma Tutu and mother colluded to extort money from her Danish husband.
Akothee calls herself Madam Boss Lady and the richest female musician in the Kenyan music industry with a reported worth of Sh80 million. Well, the boss lady seems to have controversy all around her, which she calmly deals with and addresses. From time to time, Akothee has hit the headlines for different reasons from accusing her baby daddies of not taking care of her children to taking her child to see her girlfriend or accusing women of being after money not love or revealing that she vets men who can be her baby daddies or showing off her wealth. Her controversy seems to work for her perfectly as it keeps making her the talk of town.
