Prezzo: Goldie was a great woman

He is popularly known as Prezzo but his real names are Jackon Makini. His stint at this season’s BBA StarGame left a mark on his career especially his relationship with Nigeria’s Goldie. Today he will be part of the entertainers at the Ushirika Grounds in Moshi where the Serengeti Fiesta 2012 season kicks off. Below are excerpts of his interview with the Beat reporter in Nairobi. He talks about his music, life in the BBA and thereafter.

Why are you called The President?
Naturally I’m a leader.  I’m never a disciple in whatever I do. I always try to be the first caller and I would never follow others. That’s why they call me the president. When you have a big name as a president, you have to live by the standard. You don’t settle for anything less, and for me, I didn’t call myself the President. It was a name given to me by other people.

What influenced your choice to participate in the BBA?
Experience. I have always wanted to be part of a reality show. And when the opportunity came to me, I grabbed it. I went there to represent my country. While in the house, I know there were people who were watching  the show, and as a public figure, I feel I have a responsibility to the young ones who looked up to me. I had to refrain from certain issues, just to set a good example out there for the youths. But whenever things went out of hand in the house, I had to address issues as they came.,

Is it true that you revolutionised Kenya’s music industry?
I brought  glamour and style into the Kenyan music industry. I also brought show into the business. Before my emergence in the Kenyan music scene, people believed that  to become a successful musician, you have to come from the ghetto. Though I was born and raised in the ghetto, I always wanted to define things in my own way. So, by the time I started pursuing my career in music, I was blessed enough to add glitz and glamour into Kenyan showbiz. I didn’t actually change; rather I carried on with the glitz and glamour that I brought into the industry.
It is widely believed that you were born silver spoon in your mouth, how did that affect your life?
I wasn’t born with a silver spoon; rather I was born and raised in the ghetto. I was brought up in the ghetto called the ‘Slave’.My growing up wasn’t very easy at all. But God blessed my parents and I had to use their wealth to my advantage. Though I depended on my parents up to the level when I finished College, then, I started hustling for myself since 2003.

You got married in 2008, what happened to your marriage?
My wife wasn’t comfortable with the music industry and all that goes with it.  It was a struggle then  to keep my marriage even though I dated my wife for thirteen years before we got married before we  relocated to Canada. My marriage started having a crack after I became a star. I believe everything happened for a reason, I still respect and love her because she gave birth to a beautiful girl for me. She will always be the mother to my daughter. I talk to her all the time because of our daughter.

Why did Goldie advise you to go back to your wife while in the house?
It is actually difficult for an outsider to understand the cause of a particular action unless the person witnessed it. So, for Goldie, she has good intention. But only me knew what transpired between us.

How would you describe your relationship with Goldie?
It was a perfect relationship. And, Goldie is a caring woman. She took care of me, just as I also took care of her. We stood side by side with each other. She kept me going in the house, and I want to believe I kept her going as well.

Was there any intention to take the relationship beyond the house?
That’s what I was hoping. I think Goldie is a very wonderful woman. She is a smart lady, and moreover, she knows how to take care of a man. I can’t point accusing figures at her nor can I do the same thing at myself. I just think that the environment in which we found ourselves then was actually responsible for my misunderstanding with her.
But you know, when you are outside the house, and you have a woman. If you have an argument with her you can choose to drive out in order to get some things off your mind. But when you are in the BBA house, you are stocked into whatever that is in the house.
It’s unfortunate that things turned out the way they did. I have no regret for knowing Goldie, or having anything to do with her in the house. I wish her all the best at all times.

Do you have any projects in mind right now?
I intend to do a video for my new song titled “My City, My town”. I ‘m actually working with one of Nigerian artistes called, Clarence Peters. He does very good videos and I look forward to working with him.

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A Tale of Navio BBA Stargame Finale Tour in South Africa

“One & Only” star Navio was in Johannesburg on 5th August, South Africa to deliver an awesome performance at the Big Brother Stargame 2012 finale show. This makes Navio the first East African artist to ever perform at the grand finale of Africa’s biggest reality show. Uganda found itself well represented with both Navio and housemate Kyle featuring in a show that was watched by millions of people in with over 40 countries across Africa. Navio shared his excitement with his fans on Facebook: “I’m officially performing at the Big Brother finale. East Africa Oye! Another one for the history books. East Africa, I think it’s about time we had an East African performing at the grand finale and a rapper at that”.
After 91 days, 35 housemates, 14 partners and seven celebrities, the Big Brother StarGame 2012 came to an end with South African Keagan, 22, emerging the winner of the $300,000 star prize money following the eviction of his five fellow housemates.
There were exclusive performances from Superstar Nigerian performer D’ Banj, fresh from the success of his sensational global hit, “Oliver Twist”, East African hip hop powerhouse Navio, sizzling South African MC Khuli Chana and award-winning Ghanaian hip-life king Sarkodie while Nigeria’s phenomenal Afro-pop star Naeto C gave the audience more to cheer about in the most watched Big Brother Africa show in history.
Navio also performed two more times in South Africa.  He electrified the star studded audience at the Big Brother after party at Hush Club.  And to top it all of he also headlined his own show at Club Aloko in Sandton on August 8th.  The club was packed to capacity by 11pm.  An energetic crowd of hip hop fans cheered Navio on throughout the night as he performed his smash hits Nawuliuranga, Ngalo, Dream, Keep Moving and One and Only.
Navio commented on his recent tour “I really enjoyed the love and support shown to me and my music here in SA. My Africa-wide fan base is definitely growing and I look forward to more shows in SA and Africa.  The tour was organized by Navio’s management company Talent Africa Group.
Watch out for a full behind the scenes video of the tour to be released soon.

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Big Brother and the gender issue in Africa

Loads of critics will arise after reading this essay. Many African feminist critics could come for my jugular. I hope though that they will appraise the issue objectively and address it effectively.
On my part, I will try as much as I can to be very objective and underline my points with verifiable facts, and keep it short. Very short. After all, this is only just a road map.  One of the most salient points of this year’s Big Brother Africa is the relationship issue in the house. Of course there are two most significant ones: Goldie and Prezzo; Talia versus Keagan/Seydou.
This essay is not all about the details of these two relationships. It is about how these relationships clearly underscore the issue of supposed female subsumation in Africa. Supposed, because whenever female subsumation is discussed, it is in reference to the man subsuming the woman. Nobody ever mentions the woman’s/women’s part.
First, Goldie and Prezzo. Obviously, as a Nigerian, Goldie did have a whole lot of chances of making it to at least the last five/six. Big Brother Africa’s history testifies to this. But, was she able to do that? Clearly, she could not. It was not because Africans would not have kept her in the house if she did try to be entertaining a bit.
The major reason was because she lost sight of why she was in the house and made her new focus Prezzo. And true to type, the self-styled President utilized the opportunity presented to him by the unfocused and unassertive Goldie.
Upon meeting Prezzo, Goldie lost focus and made him her primary focus of entertainment. She washed, cooked, tended to and loved him wholeheartedly. In doing this, she maligned herself from her housemates and also failed to provide the necessary entertainment to Africa. Consequently, she became the most hated housemate to have ever come out of Nigeria since the inception of the Big Brother Africa show.
Throughout the entire history of the Big Brother Africa, I do not think that Nigerians have hated any Nigerian housemate more than they hated Goldie during her time there. I know that some people will point to the fact that Nigerians still voted for her during her stay in the house, but then, sheer patriotism made that happen. No Nigerian made any extra effort to keep her in the house, and when she was evicted, everybody heaved a sigh of relief.
The question now is, was Goldie not completely African womanish in her actions in the Big Brother Africa house? A traditional African would say she was. The nouveau African lady will hesitate and show her “ambivalence”. Exactly how they(the women) subsume themselves and give men all the powers.
My assertion here is that Goldie’s obsession with Prezzo led to her “early” eviction. As pointed out above, loads of people all over Africa could not feel her “entertaining” personality, hence she never, at any point, was Africa’s beloved. Yet Prezzo stayed on to be the first runner-up. As you would see later on, African women decide who is entertaining.
Next up is Talia. Sweet and beautiful Talia. Africa’s beautiful queen. Loved by both male and female. Beloved of Angola and Seydou. Talia had it all working for her when she was Seydou’s loving and faithful girlfriend. In staying true to Seydou, she became the epitome of African beauty mixed with African virtue. Africa loved her; Seydou campaigned for her; and she had a very high chance of dragging the number one spot with Keagan. Then like Eve(not Big Brother Africa’s Eve), she fell. Keagan, dangling the serpent.
Talia, who had continuously professed her love for Seydou and stayed strong. Liked by all the housemates, she was never nominated for eviction. The only time she came up for eviction was when “Biggie’s machine” chose her country. When that happened, Africans showed her love. Sey showed her love by campaigning for her too. But during the last week, Keagan moved in with one thing in mind: seduce her.
He succeeded as she fell for that with just a week to go. It seemed that Keagan’s motive was “exterminate the dual opposition of Talia and Seydou”. That done, she lost Seydou’s support. Now, most importantly, she lost the support of African women. I will explain.
It is quite obvious that majority of the voters/fans of Big Brother Africa, or indeed any reality show are women. They decide who wins and who does not. While most of them come out in public and try to support Talia, behind, they criticized her actions and withdrew their votes.
To them, she had betrayed “African womanhood”. Meanwhile, Goldie, who stayed faithful and was lauded as the epitome of African womanhood by most of the African women(after her eviction of course) was also evicted for being “too in-love”!
My summation: African women are too patriarchal to define what they are agitating for. Their thought processes are so male-defined that they willingly hand over themselves and their sisters to male domination. If the man says, “she is too lovey-dovey”, the African woman accepts and searches for the guillotine. If he says she is a tramp, the African woman asks for public execution!
My purpose in this essay is not to answer questions. What I merely wanted to do is to point out two things; firstly, African women are the architects of their own downfall. Secondly, lack of principle and discipline make African women submit themselves to male domination. Live television has proven this and live television(especially reality shows) reflects reality. I have provided guiding points! Let the debate begin!
*Mr Oruh, a social commentator, wrote from Lagos

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VIDEO: Watch Karen Igho, Tonto Dike in Blackberry Babes 2!

The craze and humour the popular 2011 Nigerian movie ‘Blackberry Babes‘ brought with it cannot be exaggerated but if you ever thought it would stop there, think again because it’s about to get crazier!
‘Blackberry Babes 2′, which is not necessarily a sequel to the first run stars BBA 2011 co-winner Karen Igho, the Sassy Tonto Dikeh and ‘Gbo gbo big girlz’ Eniola Badmus, what a combo!
Check out the synopsis
An internet fraud gang is brought to the law’s attention because of a foolish member’s indiscrete ways, meanwhile an organised prostitution ring refuse to release one of their hottest commodities, a girl who feels guilty about her on-going affair with her brother in law.

Click to Watch

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