2 Nigerian Musicians Who Faked Their Deaths To Promote Their Career

People fake their deaths for diverse reasons.  It could be a form of escape for them in order to get a clean start in life, or to avoid criminal prosecution. Some do it as a prank. Others faked their deaths for self-promotion. Those who faked their deaths to promote themselves or projects tend to be insensitive. This is so because there are people who would be upset, hurt or psychologically affected by the news of their death.

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Throughout history, a number of famous people have staged their deaths. Today, we’re focusing on two Nigerian entertainers who staged their demise in order to advance their careers.  

Skiibii

In August 2015,  singer, Skiibii Mayana fondly called Swaggerlee of Africa reportedly died. He was 22 years old at the time. Lindaikeji.blogspot.com broke the news of the singer’s death, but recanted later. The blogger said she was inundated of Skiibii’s death by his label mate, Harry Songz. The report had claimed that he dressed up and was headed for his media rounds when he suddenly fell and was unable to be resuscitated.

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Barely 24 hours after the singer was said to have slumped, his management, Five Star Music, released a statement saying that he only passed out for a few hours and had been revived. The whole story was later discovered to be false. The report of his death was a complete publicity stunt, just for him to trend. There are indications that he came up with the sickening act to promote his upcoming song. Skiibii got his big break in 2019 – four years after the incidence.    

Oladips

On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, Nigerians were shocked to hear of the passing of fledgling rapper, Oladips. “We are still in shock as we speak,” his management said in an Instagram post. The cause of the 28 years old death was death was never mentioned in the statement, but the it read “kept his battles within himself for two years”. Two days later, while tributes were still pouring in for the struggling rapper, Oladips’ colleague and close associate, Qdot,  insisted that the rapper is alive.

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Sharing a picture of Oladips on his Instagram page, Qdot wrote, “@oladipsoflife, my gee is alive.” His claim elicited mixed reactions from the public, with many incensed by the fake death news. The rapper was due to release his new album titled , ‘Superhero Adugbo,’ (The Memoir) on Thursday, the same day that he was announced to be alive. Interestingly, Oladips last single was called Die Young. Oladips’s death comes a few months after another popular musician, Mohbad, died in September, leading to countrywide protests. Oladips rose to fame when he won a rap competition called the King is Here hosted by Nigerian music giant DBanj in 2015.

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# Faked Their Deaths