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Exciting moments with Nigeria’s favourite celebs at BudxLagos

By Daniel Anazia
13 July 2019   |   4:08 am
Lagos recently was home to a different kind of fun, as Budweiser, an American-style pale lager produced by Anheuser-Busch, held its second edition of BUDXLagos, a global event that connects and spotlights outstanding creative minds in music and pop culture from around the world. Focusing on exciting emerging local scenes from around the world –…

Teni at BUDXLagos

Lagos recently was home to a different kind of fun, as Budweiser, an American-style pale lager produced by Anheuser-Busch, held its second edition of BUDXLagos, a global event that connects and spotlights outstanding creative minds in music and pop culture from around the world.

Focusing on exciting emerging local scenes from around the world – from Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh to Lagos and beyond – BUDX, a globe-traveling celebration of creativity from electronic music magazine, Mixmag and beer brand, Budweiser, presents the absolute best that these cities have to offer across cultural hot points including music, art, technology, fashion, and film.

With two successful editions, BUDXLagos has created a platform that not only encourages Nigerians to express their inner fierceness, it also makes room for them to hang out with their favourite superstars, affording them the opportunity to ask such stars questions they may never have had the opportunity to pose.

The innovative and carefully curated talks, masterclasses, installations, visual arts, and performances, give creative leaders time to shine. There was also an atmosphere of good music, fun games and a great tasting beer for LDA’s who welcomed the new and exciting experience.

With the activities split into day time and night time, participants were greeted with a blend of mind-boggling experiences, including homegrown artistes who shared insights on several topics around music, fashion, Nigerian culture, Nollywood and women thriving in entertainment via carefully curated sessions.

These sessions saw celebrities like Banky W and wife, Adesuwa, Toke Makinwa, DJ Obi, DJ Lambo, Reminisce and Teni The Entertainer, among others, shed inside information on how to become a successful entertainer in Nigeria’s super competitive entertainment industry.

Day one saw Trinidad & Tobago DJ and former Major Lazer affiliate, Jillionaire talk about how music is bridging the gap between Africa and the Caribbean. This was followed by DJ Obi’s talk about how he fought sleep deprivation, hallucinations, hunger, and fatigue while breaking the record during a DJ set that lasted 10 days. The day was cap off with off a night of performances featuring Jillionaire, Ycee, Rema, DJ Obi and Smallz the DJ.

Popular for breaking the world record of the longest DJ set, spending 240 hours spinning, DJ Obi explained during his session: The longest DJ Set of All Time With DJ Obi that most times, presentation is what may be hindering the success of some budding entertainers.

According to him, he came to this conclusion when he realized that he had inadvertently taught Nigerians to appreciate house music, a genre that is not popular in the country.

“During my world record-breaking DJing set, I learned that you can teach people things because eight out of the 10 days I DJ, I only played house music and I realized I was able to teach people about a genre of music they didn’t know they liked. I presented it to them differently and they accepted it,” Obi said.

Style icons Tokyo James, a British-Nigerian designer and Creative Director of the eponymous brand, Tokyo James, Adebayo Oke-Lawal, Creative Director and founder of Orange Culture and music star Ladipoe, kick-started the day two, with talks that centered on the evolution of Nigerian fashion into the globally influential scene it is today. After the session, Teni the Entertainer, the 2018 breakout star, led a panel session on how Nigerian women are leading the next wave of Nigerian culture.

The For Your Case crooner talked about her family being her biggest obstacle when she decided to go into music full time. According to her, their reasons were simple, her older sister was already a popular singer and one entertainer in the family was already one too many. She went on to explain how she pushed through and eventually won them over with the success of her career.

Oke-Lawal opened up to participants about his motivation for starting such a unique brand and the challenges he faced. According to the fashion designer, the hate he received only proved to him that there was an intense and urgent need to change the narrative of the metrosexual male whose fashion voice was being drowned in Nigeria.

“I was bullied because I dressed differently, liked colors that weren’t considered for men, my voice was too thin. Orange Culture became a brand that was created to be a home for people who saw masculinity in a different light,” he said.

After the discussion turned to Nigeria’s biggest cultural export –film– with the multi-talented Kemi Adetiba and legendary filmmaker Sesan Ogunro alongside pop-music icon Banky W. Performances from Distruction Boyz, Teni the Entertainer, DJ Nana and special guests TBA followed the panel session.

Speaking on the unequal pay in entertainment industry and total disregard for the female gender, the self acclaimed Baby Girl for life, Toke Makinwa, explained that one simple way to overcome the unfair treatment of women in entertainment “is to become exceptionally good at your craft”, adding that “no one sees you as a female on-air personality, a female DJ, or practically a female anything. The prefix disappears because you are simply the best among men and women.”

On the third day, Zlatan Ibile, the man behind the Zanku dance sensation, talked about Nigerian dances going viral with Westsyde Lifestyle NG. DJs Lambo and Nana followed by discussing how female DJs are guiding Nigeria’s club scene, while Mayorkun and Ycee talked about how Nigerian artistes are infiltrating the global mainstream.

Later that night, guests were ushered into a hall at Queen’s Park, Lekki, which had been transformed into a concert mode with strobes, free cold beers and popping music. It was impossible to sit, as there were performances from some of Nigeria’s rave of the moment most exciting singers like Runtown, Mayorkun, and Zlatan with DJs Crowd Kontroller and Consequence holding down the musical forte.

Guests went ecstatic on the dance floor, as they danced to a unique mesh of oldies and new hit songs that got them off their seats, busting a move.

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