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| Captured from the Tiwa Savage video |
What is trending within the Nigerian music circle, at the moment, is the topic of Tiwa Savage’s Sex Tape. I first saw it on YouTube, but shoved it aside –I had other issues on my mind when I logged into YouTube that day. Later, I saw it on Facebook, when a former Nigerian Senator commented on it, saying he would faint should he dare watch the video.
When I decided to watch it on YouTube finally, it wasn’t the
full tape. It was a short slot shown in an interview in which Savage was
hosted. The interview was on something else, but the Nigerian singer changed
the trajectory of the discussion by introducing the story of the sex tape in a
manner that seemed so unnatural. If she had failed to bring it up, the
interview would have gone without the host asking anything about it. To her, it
is an accomplishment the world needs to know.
The idea of a sex tape is an American subject. It was
trending in the US for some time until the tide of events brought forth other
issues that drowned the topic of sex tapes. Scandals about sex tapes seem
old-fashioned. It was in connection with top American celebrities. It never
happened anywhere else. At least we never heard it happening somewhere outside
the US. Now, it is “happening” in Nigeria, not in the UK, not in Germany, not
in France and not in Italy. It seems Nigeria is in a rush to narrow the gap
between it and the US, at least on this subject.
There is no doubt that Savage is the Nigerian diva. If,
however, some Nigerians, including Savage, are of the notion that stardom for a
woman is never fully accomplished without a sex tape, then they have got it
wrong. There hasn’t been any sex tape in connection with Beyoncé! There hasn’t
been any in connection with Brandy whom Savage recently featured in one of her
songs, “Somebody’s Son”! Neither has there been any in connection with Rihanna.
Yet, these American women are among the most accomplished global music
superstars.
The tape was, allegedly, recorded after Savage came out of a
concert in Lagos. So, what it means is that immediately she ends any concert,
the next thing is to have sex. I thought the next thing would be to shower. So,
who is that Nigerian that has become so sophisticated (or rather stupid) to
conceive this idea? How did he break into the hotel room to plant the camera
without being noticed? Why was Savage in a rush to break the news?
Nigerians haven’t that kind of liberal culture. What we have
is this warped notion that we are big when things happening in the US also
happen in Nigeria. Sadly, Savage is of that notion as well. I had thought she
had grown past the circle of people with this mindset. It is fine to put on
revealing dresses in a music video and dance in a very seductive manner, but I
think that there will be a problem if a video comes out that features you
having sex.
Tiwa Savage was married to her former manager, Tunji Balogun
until another sex scandal led them to end the marriage that had yielded a son.
Since then, she had remained single, preferring to date, rather than get
married. Meanwhile, she has continued to occupy the front seat of Nigerian and
African Avant-Garde. But she needs to understand that a sex tape does not
consummate stardom and that she needs to keep things real.
