Recently, the upcoming Singer Spyro, was found sleeping on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. He was most likely doing this to gain newsworthiness that leads to trending which may influence the streaming number of his new single that he desperately wants to be successful. When the happily married Tega and Boma in the last Big Brother Naija had a steamy session under the duvet, many believed they were trying to use the strategy of sexually explicit content to boost their chances of emerging winners of the reality show. The release and controversy surrounding the sex tape of Singer Tiwa Savage have attracted varied narratives. Some believe she is the victim of blackmailers; others believe she is trying to go the Kim Kardashian way, where she used a sex tape to jumpstart her rise to fame and fortune. Time will tell if Tiwa is trying to promote her new single and album Someone’s Son Will Find Me or she is really a victim of her indiscretion and the plot of blackmailers. The BBN Housemate’s Cross mistakenly released nude images is another chapter in the new but appalling strategy to gain followership and trending on search engines and social media.
The irony of this strategy is that it ends up negatively. If the Big Brother reality show is an example of how nudity or exploitation of sexuality can enable one to win a contest, the winners of the show have never gone to those who showed their nakedness or those who had sex on the show, especially for the females. Outside reality shows, the most successful and fulfilled stars and not those with pornographic tendencies. The big names in Hollywood and Nollywood are not the girls are guys who do sexually explicit movies. From the multiple Oscar winners like Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep to multiple Grammy Winners like Michael Jackson and Beyonce, sexually explicit content has never been the reason for their success. Their craft has always been their raft. The exception might be for individuals like Kim Kardashian who has been described as talentless. Her sex tape without the business acumen of her mother who steered the ship of Keeping Up With The Kardashians would have amounted to nothing. The backlash that Tega continues to receive is a testament that though men and women will log online and use Google to search and download your nude images or videos, the downloads will often take you down.
The statement of the Comedian Francis Agoda popularly called I Go Die, sums up this current madness. “The way we are expressly showing our nakedness and sex tapes as a mistake, is intentional because is not a common mistake you can’t find in Africa parents DNA, we follow our papa stay for one room, with 10 children, non of us see him yansh one day, am afraid because we are just breeding future porn stars.” Because humans are copycats, there is a high tendency to see more mistakenly released videos and images. Or blatant display of nudity like Big Brother housemate Liquorose recently showcased at an event. What we must all realize is that the internet does not forget. And what might seems as trendy today might come to hunt you in the near or distant future.
Ata Ukuta, Editor – Towncryyers