Becoming a celebrity
comes with a lot of challenges and this is a fact, hip-hop star, Ayo Balogun,
a.k.a Wizkid, has found out the hard way. Recently, an impostor, impersonating
him defrauded his UNILAG fans, prompting the police to invite him(Wizkid) for questioning.
The Pepsi ambassador has since shrugged off the experience, but he’s on a
mission to ensure it does not repeat itself. In this interview with SHOWTIME
CELEBRITY, the artiste talks about his UNILAG saga, fame, new record label and
more. Enjoy!
What really happened
between you and the UNILAG students. You were accused of duping them?
By now, I think all is
clear that there are some people parading themselves as either Wizkid or his
managers. The unfortunate incident regarding the UNILAG students is a case of
mistaken identity where people fell victim to some unscrupulous elements who
impersonated me or my representatives. The same people, as we have come to
know, went as far as creating fake accounts in my name to dupe people.
I just don’t really
want to talk much about it. There are processes involved in booking
Wizkid for shows. If you want to book Wizkid for a show or anything of
the sort, you go to Empire Mates Entertainment, EME, which is my label or you
talk to my manager, Godwin Tom. Those are the main channels to reach me
if you want to book me for a show. So,if you’ve been chatting with the Wizkid
on the social media and he has promised to do something or charges you
money, I want you to know that Wizkid never charges anybody or does his
business directly. I don’t discuss price, I don’t talk about anything like that.
I allow my management and my label to handle my business. So, nobody talks
directly to me concerning payments.
How did you come about
the UNILAG palaver?
Basically, the police
just called us to inform us of the development. We can’t really give full
details because we were invited to come to the police station and we went as
law abiding citizens. When we got there, we gave our own statement as well as
the students. But we really can’t say anything now until the police have done
their proper investigations. But with the details on ground, what we want
you to know is that the so-called Wizkid the students have been contacting is
fake and an impostor. It’s really not from me or from anybody around me.
Do you have a
procedure for booking you for shows?
Yes, we do. My manager
is going to give the proper details, proper emails, the right phone
numbers and other things needed. We are going to definitely make that known. We
are going to give full details, so, you will have it. It’s a simple
process. Either you contact me or you contact EME directly. But even when you
contact me, the whole procedure is that I will direct you to the booking office
as well.
It is simple. You send
your request via email or you can call us and send us your email address. The
booking office would contact you from the email address you have provided with
a booking questionnaire. The booking questionnaire seeks information about your
event, venue details as well as publicity activities, what you intend to do and
other special requests. We don’t really want to give more details so that the
impostors would not continue with their fraudulent activities.
The email you are
talking about that all bookings comes through, is it the same email every
communication comes to?
No. If you have
contacted anybody regarding a Wizkid show, paid and we do not show up for the
event or you do not contact the right people; provide the bank account details,
provide the email correspondence. If there was a contract, provide the contract
– that is as simple as it gets. We are not fighting with anybody. We sympathise
with the students who have been duped, but for you to do it properly, for you
to get the best information that you need, it is important to provide the
necessary information.
In this case, what do
you think really happened regarding the procedure?
We are letting the
police do their job. We have nothing to say because we know very well that we
were not the ones they contacted. So, we are not worried. What we are
concerned about is to stop others from being duped by these impostors.
What was your first
reaction when you heard the news?
I felt so bad. I just
went to my Twitter account and tweeted the normal people to contact if you want
to book a show with Wizkid. Let’s be realistic. Everybody saw my hustle and
watched me grow. When I dropped “Holla Your Boy”, I was much
younger and wasn’t charging up to N5 million for shows. This is just
playing out and it is simple.
So, how much do you
charge now?
N5 million is okay for
my show. But let’s just put things right. It is so bad to my company’s name and
my name as well. That is why I decided to open up on this issue.
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