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| Fandom on Wizkid and Davido |
#WorldWizkidDay is the number one trending topic on Twitter Nigeria, today, February 4, 2019, but does anyone know exactly what is being celebrated?
The moment I saw the hashtag trending, I had to check again if by some blip of nature [We do have constant rain now in January, so anything seems possible], that Wizkid's birthday had 'moonwalked' from July to February, but Google confirms otherwise.
The talented singer who is arguably Nigeria's most prized asset both at home and on the international scene has consistently popped up as a trending topic on Twitter in the past few days and this is not for any reason created by him.
His last post on his Twitter page was on January 3rd when he announced he was going on a break, since then there has been no new music from him, nor feature, with his only recent activity being a concert in Mali on Sunday night.
So what exactly is the WorldWizkidDay hashtag about?
Nothing actually, just excited fans eulogizing the pop star and listing out his achievements, both factual and imagined, to spite those they consider his rivals.
Popular musicians across the world have been able to inspire a bubbly fan base, that becomes pre-eminent especially when there is a rival star.
Fandom is not a culture totally alien to the Nigerian music industry, as witnessed with the likes of Fuji legends, Kollington Ayinla and Sikiru Ayinde Barrister in the late 80s and the fan base of Eedris Abdulkareem and Ruggedman in the early 2000s, but that of Wizkid fans, popularly called Wizkid FC are proving to be a totally different breed.
Fandoms and how they work
Across the world, fans usually find a way to come together and show their support, creating a community, online and outside it, discussing their interest in the music or love for a particular celebrity and engaging with 'like minds' on both individual and collective basis.
These superstars appeal to a large audience of teenagers or young adults in their early twenties who celebrate their every feat and are not modest to identify with their favorite celebrities or their art.
The internet and social media have in recent times further blown the 'relevance' of a fan base, empowering them and changing the balance of play in how this relationship plays out.
Platforms like Twitter and Instagram have seen music appreciation and celebrity followership grow at an unprecedented rate in the last decade.
There is now direct accessibility to one's idol, with the celebrities interacting more with their followers and even doing giveaways on occasions and simple acts like a follow-back or a responsive tweet/comment serve as some form of validation to the course.
Fans are now building relationships across geographic boundaries. Blogs, fan forums, and other online communities are hubs by which enthusiasts now dissect not just the music but the lives of the celebrities.
Subsequently, we have seen the rise of fan bases for artists like Beyonce's 'BeyHive', Ariana Grande's 'Arianators', Nicki Minaj's 'Barbies' and even Lady Gaga's 'Little Monsters' who are quite commanding when topics surrounding their idols are discussed online.
Fandom is a thing, every notable artist has them, some passive, others quit dominant.
The extreme and dangerous sides to Fandom
In 2000, from his Marshall Matters LP, Eminem allowed us into the world of an obsessed fan and how extremism can naturally escalate to something much more dangerous.
The energy the fans share when they play an active role in the art is always a beautiful thing to watch.
In sports, 'trash talk' is a thing at stadiums and when you hear rival fans singing at a game, throwing bants, you can't help but feel a rush of adrenaline towards the club or athlete you support. As long as it never crosses the lines of bants, it is always fine.
Emotional connection and fan praise is fundamental to any public person. And these emotions should fairly not be used only in times of successes or chart-topping feats, it is also allowed when fans share their unhappiness or regrets at the actions of the celebrities.
But to everything in life, there are restrictions and when these impulses take a rather aggressive, intolerant, gung-ho and not giving room for contradictory opinions stance, then it becomes a problem where if not properly handled can lead to a violent and dangerous situation.
Of particular interest on this subject are the fan bases of the two most prominent pop artists in recent times, Wizkid and Davido.
A number of their fan bases exist for various reasons, why there are some that are sincerely committed to supporting the artists and sharing his/her music, there are others with selfish reasons, solely created to benefit from the popularity.
These fanbases are the very large and vociferous bunch and the rivalry that ran for a couple of years between them has also festered some rabid and insensitive traits in the fanatics.
We have had a situation where members from both camps reportedly engaged in a physical clash during the 2017 One Africa Music festival in Dubai.
Recently on social media, we have seen a section of these fans 'attack' individuals, bullying and harassing people, calling them names and shutting down any opinion they do not agree with.
There is a special and heinous fury piled in veiled warnings hidden in a series of tweets that are reserved for anyone with a contrary opinion.
To almost every rebuttal, there is a sly threat and these threats are becoming real even outside the cyberspace.
While the fandom culture is one a bad thing in itself, we should, however, be careful not to promote its notoriety or allow it to become a tool for violence.
Being a fan involves affection and emotions, which at times as humans can go overdrive but it should come with some rein especially when the tendencies can lead to harm, abuse, online bully or even savagery .
Passion can no longer be excused for stupidity and the harassment that now takes place on a more prominent basis.
A lid needs to be placed on this unchecked entitlement that only you have a right to like an artist or your preferred artist should always be the 'Lord of the Manor' and where the occasion arises, the celebrities also have a responsibility to step in and call their fans into order.
In This Story: #Fandom #Fan #Madness #MusicIndustry
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