By Nehru Odeh
Music buffs can’t get enough of Tiwa Savage. Known variously as Mama Jam Jam and Queen of Afrobeats, one epithet that she has lived up to and has stuck is the one she not only gave herself but has also lyricized: Number one African Bad Girl.
Number one African Bad girl? Certainly, she is the number one African bad girl. Savage is indeed bad, if not the “baddest” on the entertainment scene both in the literal sense and as slang, which connotes two difference senses.
While the fact that Savage has dominated the entertainment scene is not in doubt, what with her releasing hit after hit, she also constantly looms large in the minds of many. While to some she is a bone in the throat, to others she is the best thing that ever happened to them.
The best thing? Of course. Ever since her leaked sex video set the internet on fire in October 2021, Savage continues to trend on that account. The video itself continues to get a free ride, eliciting reactions upon reactions, making the protagonist more famous or infamous, depending on which of the divide one belongs.
What is it about this Isale-Eko born and London trained artiste that makes her to be much in demand? What magic wand does she have? What fuels the Savage mystique, the number one African bad girl persona that she carries about with panache?
Her ravishing beauty, salacious dress sense and music skills aside, her post sex video credentials are intimidating. No sooner had the leaked sex video burst onto the scene, with the hoopla it generated, than Savage popularity upped like the exchange rate of the dollar compared to the naira.
The facts are not far-fetched. The all-knowing Google itself attested to it when it said Savage topped the list of Google Trends in Nigeria with over 200,000 searches, beating Colin Powell, Twitter, Eid-el-Maulud, Shatta Wale, and UEFA Champions League, to mention a few.
The visual of her single, Somebody’s Son, featuring American R & B singer Brandy, which was uploaded on YouTube, shortly before her sex video was leaked, has had 16 million views on YouTube.
No day or week virtually passes without Nigerians being buffeted with references or allusions to it. Not only does it continues to trend, it remains a fixture even in popular culture.
The latest reference to the visual happened recently at the Federal University of Lafia, where it featured in an examination as one of the questions asked in a course offered in the English and Literary Studies department of the university.
The question that was asked in the course, Popular Culture and Mass Media, is: “Tiwa Savage’s notorious video trended in 2021. What is the connection between Musical lyrics and poetry?” The said question involving the singer was allotted 20 marks by the examiner.
That examination has elicited not a few reactions, with many questioning why the lecturer should rubbish such a grand academic discipline with an unserious and undignified topic like Savage’s sex video. However one sees it, it falls within the purview of popular culture.
Still, in spite of the lack of connection between the two sentences that make up the question, the fact that Savage propped up in an examination in a citadel of learning goes a long way to show not only that she continues to turn heads, but also she cannot be easily ignored, no matter how notorious or unpalatable the video may seem.
That Savage continues to turn heads can be seen in the way celebrities refer to the leaked sex video over and over again, attesting to its indispensability. The same week that the video featured in an examination at Federal University, Lafia, controversial Nollywood actor Uche Maduagwu, in an interview with TVC, confessed he hadn’t gotten over the video since it first assailed the sensibilities of Nigerians last October.
Maduagwu revealed that not only does he watch the video every morning but also that it is an inspiration. He however lambasted the visual, calling it a national shame, and advised Savage to dump music for pornography, which, according to him, is what she is adept at.
“I think it was a national shame. Although I watched it every morning as inspiration. Because now, she has given me content to watch and that is what gives me inspiration.
“I am sure so many people in Nigeria watch it every morning and every night. She should just quit music and go into Popo,” he averred.
Before that interview, Maduagwu had, while reacting on his Instagram page to the dress Savage wore to an event in Ghana, tackled her, saying she should desist from exposing herself because some people are yet to recover from her intimate tape that went viral in 2021, adding that a lot of people have still not gotten over it.
“Biko what outfit is this again Tiwa Savage? Must you reveal your body to be noticed? In Ghana? We have not recovered from your alleged video. Abeg which moral lessons is this outfit teaching our kids?” Mawagwu said.
Recovered from her sex video? Of course. The Nollywood actor is speaking the minds of many Nigerians who, like him have yet to recover from the salacious video – people who can’t stand her charm and bad-girl persona. Does that have anything to do with why she was almost slapped recently at an undisclosed beach in Lagos?
“Omo I do mistake go beach without security, and small cash. Omo I nearly chop slap that day,” she said, as she shared videos of herself at the beach with fans hailing her with the caption: “Hahahahaha I love you all too but from afar.”
That sounds ludicrous. Still, the question is: Why have Nigerians yet to recover from the video? Why are Nigerians still trying to come to terms with the Savage mystique? Why does Savage continue to turn heads, whether they like her or not?
The answer is not far-fetched. Popular controversial OAP Daddy Freeze simply summed it up when in the wake of the video going viral, he famously described it as 10 powerful seconds. As brief as the video is, that is also how powerful and unforgettable it is, in terms of the masculine aggressiveness and femininine passion and pathos involved .
“Forgive me guys but it would be hard for me to see Tiwa in a different way again. Anytime I see her, either working, performing, or being on social media this video keeps popping into my mind for a long time,“ Daddy Freeze said via his Instagram account,
No doubt, just like it does to Daddy Freeze, Maduagwu and many others in their secret closet, the video will definitely linger in the minds of Nigerians for a long time, and as they say, the internet never forgets.