Top Online Conversations in Nigerian Entertainment 2021

2021 started out mellow, due to the world recovering from COVID-19 but quickly turned out to be one of the most eventful and active years in the entertainment industry. Everything from achievements, new music, concerts, movies, shocking revealations and twists from favourite reality shows at various times during the year, set social media abuzz and quite frankly, all the drama still have some in shock, for those who live their lives vicariously through our favourite celebrities.

2021 shook things up and raised the bar with one event after the other and what better way to pay homage than to have a roundup of the topics that trended the most on social media.

While some of these topics divided many on opinions on social media, while it threw up heavy conversations offline in other cases, it still must be said that Nigerian entertainment personalities lived up to expectations this year, as far as ‘show business’ was concerned.

Without further ado, here is a rundown of 2021’s most trending topics on social media:

In November, DMW boss and superstar singer Davido, on his birthday wrote, “If you know I’ve given you a hit song…send me money… una know una selves ooo,” he wrote on Instagram before adding his account details, “David Adeleke, Wema Bank Account Number: 0123044967.”

While the caption he wrote on his Instagram Page started out as what seemed like a joke, within seven minutes Davido raised seven million naira from friends and business associates. Some notable names in the industry that sent him money include Femi Otedola, Obi Cubana, Cubana Chief Priest, E-Money, Honourable Akin Alabi, and Peruzzi.

Davido’s post quickly went viral, as the star decided to see just how far he could go by pushing for more money when the donations kept pouring in from celebrities and fans. In no time the topic began to trend and other celebrities like Ruggedman, Mercy Eke, Destiny Etiko and Nasboi who too wanted to share some of Davido’s goodwill and spotlight tried to recreate it.

Although what Davido did was commended by fans who praised the singer for being one of the kindest and realest people in the entertainment industry and was well-deserving of the love he was shown on his birthday, some also condemned the singer’s actions which they chalked down to him chasing clout. The latter believed that he had more than enough and as such did not need the donations.

Years after fighting over who was the better twin and singer in the group, Peter and Paul Okoye better known as P-Square, put an end to their feud and reconciled to the delight of fans who missed seeing them together.

The brother’s first hinted at a possible reunion, when Mr P, Peter Okoye took his twin brother’s children out for an early Christmas shopping, and then officially reunited ahead of their 40th birthday.

P-Square’s reunion after almost three years of fighting, excited fans of the music duo who were heartbroken when they split up, and even got comments from other celebrities like Bovi and Bob Manuel-Udokwu who weighed in on the topic.

Wizkid duly represented Nigeria in London with his three-day ‘Made In Lagos’ concert which he hosted at the O2 Arena London. The concert boasted to be one of the largest and most memorable ever hosted by any other musician of his time and packed a star-power that surpassed all forms of musical collaborations.

For the concert, he gave a platform to upcoming musicians like Tems, Buju, Bella Shmurda, Ckay, Lojay, Blaqbonez, and Ms Banks to share their art with London, while he himself shared the stage with great musicians like Chris Brown, Burna Boy, Maleek Berry, Skepta.

Wizkid’s performance at O2 Arena, easily became the most talked about topic on social media that week, when the first, second, and third batch of tickets sold out within minutes of being put up for sales. The performance then created a buzz which could be heard all the way from London to Lagos, withWizkid commanding the stage and thrilling fans with good music.

The ‘Made In Lagos’ concert proved once and for all, how much Wizkid had come into his own as a musician, a fact which both fans and non-fans of the singer attested to, while commending him for opening the opportunity he got to other musicians as well to showcase their craft to the world.

Social media users became unwilling visitors to Tiwa Savage’s bedroom, after the sex tape she made with her loverwas mistakenly posted by him on his Snapchat.

Although the video was quickly deleted, it did not stop it from falling into the hands of overzealous social media users who wasted no time in distributing its contents which showed Tiwa in a light her fans were not used to seeing her in.

Following the release of the sex tape, fans of the singer and the Nigerian social media scene were bewildered with what they saw as everyone tried to make up their own theories as to how such sensitive material about her got into the hands of the internet.

Tiwa had released a statement earlier saying that she was going to get blackmailed for the tape that was now making rounds on social media, yet it did not stop users from giving their opinion. The majority said that she released the video as a publicity stunt to promote her song with American Singer Brandy ‘Somebody’s Son’.

Thankfully, Savage was able to garner support from her fans and other celebrities who advised her to stay positive during her trials, others even joked that she could make money off the tape.

This year, the Amapiano sound from South Africa flooded the Nigerian music scene and musicians like Davido, Phyno, Falz, Bella Shmurda, Perruzi, and a host of others wasted no time in incorporating this sound into songs which turned out to be some of the best hits 2021 ever saw.

Though this sound swept through the country for the greater part of 2021, the recent ‘Ameno Amapiano Remix’ by Nigeria’s Goya Menor and Dj Nektunez which is currently trending on social media seemed to rejuvenate it as listeners cannot get enough of the song.

The ‘Ameno Amapiano Remix’ which started showing up in the social scene early December in comedy skits and memes has been featured in over a thousand videos by users and is on the list of Apple Music’s Top 100: Nigeria.

The catchy tune of the song and the lyrics about doing more than one’s capacity which many users can relate to is what is pushing this song all over social media and to the lips of people who cannot stop quoting the wordings for their post captions or using it to make skits.

Towards the end of this year, Olamide Badoo sneaked in a new song titled ‘Zazoo Zehh’ which he featured Poco Lee and new kid on the block, Portable. The song although 2021 has already recorded its greats, still stole the hearts of listeners.

Besides the song having Olamide’s touch, another reason it got so much buzz was that it featured Poco Lee’s legendary leg work which he made some upgrades to for the occasion, giving Nigerians a new dance step to debut at the club for the holiday season. Additionally, Portable became 2021’s surprise breakout star after he was featured by Badoo, with him getting lots of recognition for lending his voice to the track.

Next to songs like CKay’s ‘Emiliana’ and Kizz Daniel’s ‘Pour Me Water’, ‘Zazoo Zehh’ also joins other Nigerian hit songs on Apple Music’s Top 100: Nigeria.

Before Davido was reaping the fruits of the business connections and friendships he amassed over the years, businessman Obi Cubana was doing something similar for the burial of his mother, an event that was the talk of social media for weeks.

In July, Obi gathered what can safely be described as half of Nollywood as a stand-alone organisation and the other half of the entertainment industry to his hometown of Oba, Anambra to bid farewell to his mother Innyom Ezinne Uche Iyiegbu.

Celebrities like Kanayo.O.Kanayo, Alex Ekubo, Akin Alabi, Kcee, E Money, Zubby Michael, Pascal Chibuike OkechukwuAKA Cubana Chief Priest, Footballers, Kelechi Iheanacho and Emmanuel Emenike, Davido, Junior Pope Odonwodo and other notable names in the fields of entertainment, business, and politics were in attendance. Although Obi was not the first public figure to bury a parent or invite other celebrities to such an occasion, his own was what divided social media as it raised many eyebrows and sent many tongues wagging for the lavish display of wealth it featured.

And people talked, they critiqued the burial which was regarded as being more about a display of wealth rather than of paying last respects to the dead. Another group of users put Obi on trial, saying that his source of wealth would soon be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because he had so many wealthy friends show up for him at a time, he needed them the most.

While fans of the businessman defended him as being benevolent and equally deserving of the help he had offered to people throughout the years, after a video of Kanayo and Alex making a joke about people’s girlfriend cheating on them in Oba due to the calibre of men there surfaced, the view shifted to sexism and how the burial fuelled it.

From the placing of two wildcards amongst the real players, the introduction of new housemates’ mid-season and fake evictions, Big Brother Season Six ‘Shine Ya Eye’ was filled with twists, turns, and endless mind games masterminded by the host.

Dedicated fans of the show will recall all the moments that made them want to throw out their TV sets when watching, so they will agree that the most infuriating thing to happen in a season that was already messing with their mind, was the moment Big Brother pitted Pere and Angel against each other to battle for a finalist spot.

During this time, Big Brother had already picked his four finalists for the show and as was the usual manner for subsequent shows, he was expected to pick one more housemate to join them between Pere and Angel. Pere who had more votes than Angel was supposed to be the fifth finalist but Big Brother instead made them play against each other for the final spot.

Whether the all-knowing host did that to add one final spice to the season or not, his judgement did not sit well with fans who saw what he did as disregard for their votes. Big Brother Nigeria is one prided for being free, fair, and transparent. When Biggie made that call, viewers lost faith in the show and some who made up Pere’s fans base threatened to boycott it.

While the two finalists played a game of ‘Trucks and Screw Drivers’ to save themselves, Pere’s fans staged a protest and took to social media to air their disappointment.

However, order was restored to the show when Big Brother declared that both contestants had made the final spot, bringing the number of finalists to six instead of the usual five.

Kemi Adetiba and her star-cast proved once and for all that Nollywood ran things on social media, after she released the Netflix limited King Of Boys II: Return Of The King series. Before the actual release of the series, Kemi and her cast dropped teasers to get fans hyped up for the actual thing and when it finally dropped it was all anyone who saw it could talk about.

“King Of Boys: Return Of The King did not just show that Kemi prepared herself before making the film, but it did what most series like it was failing at woefully which was to hold a mirror to the face of the Nigerian society and show its true form. Furthermore, the series was fortified heavily against the tongue lashing of the unsolicited social media critics who had seen the first part of ‘King of Boys’ and thought a sequel would not do justice to it. Kemi used several weapons in her Arsenal. First, she brought in a new cast of fan favourites like Richard Mofe Damijo, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Efa Iwara, Deyemi Okanlawon, Charly Boy, Lord Frank, to support the existing cast – Sola Sobowale, Toni Tones, Titi Kuti, Reminisce, Ill Bliss. Another thing she did right was to take a story that seemed finished in a direction no one could have guessed it was going.

For weeks, ‘King Of Boys: Return Of The King’ trended on social media with fans talking about their best moments from the show, gushing about their favourite actors, and sharing videos of the Yoruba proverbs which Sola Sobowale and Toni Tones never failed to embody their characters.

Veteran musician and one of the pioneers of hip hop music in Nigeria Sound Sultan’s death brought social media to a standstill. The musician carried his life with so much grace and always seemed like someone who would live forever until he lost the battle to cancer.

For social media addicts, it was just like another regular day of mindless scrolling online looking for the next entertainment fix, until news of the singer’s death broke, shaking users to their core. It was as if one second, he was here lending his voice to speak out against police brutality and other ills in the society and the next he was just gone forever.

Following the news of Sultan’s death, celebrities who he had impacted during his lifetime took to social media to express grief and shock over his demise. Femi Kuti, Richard Mofe Damijo, Kate Henshaw, Mike Ezuruonye, Basket Mouth, 2 Face Idibia, Eniola Badmus, and Debo Macaroni all led the online tributes that poured in for the music icon.

2021 was not all hit songs, trending series or glamorous events, it also had its fair share of troublemakers who swore that the year would be an uncomfortable one for their enemies and stuck to this promise. Actress Tonto Dikeh, dancer Jane Mena, and influencer Bobrisky all appear at the top of this list.

Anyone who followed these three’s actions closely, can agree that this year was an endless tussle for supremacy and the battle to maybe out-embarrass each other on social mediabecause they all came ready with enough evidence to discredit the other in public.

At every point in the year, there was a fight between Tonto and Bobrisky especially, with enough sordid details to make the eyes of anyone who saw them go blind. Whether it was Bobrisky saying that Tonto allegedly defecated on the bed because she was too intoxicated to find the washroom or Tonto claiming that Bob’s transgender act and every other thing about him was a sham, with every fight there was sure to be a shocking reveal that made fans take to the comment sections of popular blogs to give their opinion or pick sides.

The long-running feud among these three always was a face-off between Tonto and her ex-best friend Bobrisky, but Jane came into the group after Tonto called her out for allegedly having an affair with her ex-boyfriend Prince Kpokpogri. Their fight continued well into the end of the year and with more shocking revelations being dished out by the parties involved, fans can expect to see it continue next year.

Fans of their feud are lapping up all the details, and right now the odds seem to be in Tonto’s favour as she is the one with the most evidence against the other two and she has had no problems dropping them for everyone on social media to see. Users are saying that Tonto never makes an accusation without evidence, which means she is probably telling the truth.

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