By Tofarati Ige
It is not unusual to find persons who are gifted with more than one set of skills in the Nigerian movie industry; however, in a bid to diversify into other areas of entertainment such as music, some have ended up making a huge mockery of themselves.
In this piece, we take a look at eight Nollywood actors who have the (dis)honour of singing some of the worst songs ever heard on the planet.
Desmond Elliot
We can’t easily forget the nightmare we went through when popular actor, Desmond Elliot, temporarily took to music with the release of the song ‘Jesus Loves Me’.
Everything about the song was wrong. From the lyrics (which sounded like something composed by a Primary 3 student) to the traditional costumes, which seemed out of place in the video, to the choreography. It was like a journey back into a long forgotten past, and that’s not a trip we’ll like to take again.
That attempt made Desmond the butt of comedians’ jokes and the actor is actually trying to blot out that part of his career and past, as the song is not listed on his Wikipedia page.
Thankfully, the man also known as Olusola is doing better in politics, so he shouldn’t be tempted, EVER, to return to the studio with the hopes of making music again.
Shan George
Love her or hate her, you can’t take away the fact that Shan George has paid her dues in the movie industry.
The sultry actress, who is now a grandmother, has acted in over 50 movies.
She, however, showed us her music side when she released her debut album, Ikenkene.
Needless to say that the album did so poorly that many of her fans were even unaware of its existence.
However, being a person that doesn’t give up easily, Shan went ahead to release her sophomore album, Dance, in 2010 which didn’t do much better than the first.
The good thing is that she does not deceive herself. The actress once said in an interview that she is a toddler in the music industry.
In her words, “…when it comes to music, I know almost nothing about it. Apart from going to the studio to sing, I don’t know anything else. I’m more like a toddler in the music industry. So I won’t want someone to look at me as the Shan George movie actress when it concerns music. I want someone to look at me in the music field as an upcoming.”
Well, she couldn’t have said it any better.
Genevieve Nnaji
She is a Queen in Nollywood, no doubt, and has lots of fans across the globe who adore her for her characterisation of roles.
However, the same cannot be said of her music career. Genevieve released her music album, One Logologo Line, in 2004 and it contained eight songs including, ‘Missing You’, ‘Bump it Up’, ‘Native Doctor’ and ‘No More’.
The most popular of the songs, ‘No More’, was greeted by such apathetic and harsh reviews by fans and the media that it was enough to dampen her music enthusiasm for life.
However, Genny, as she is fondly called, has not given up, and she says she will still sing again. In a recent interview, she noted that even though the album wasn’t so popular in Nigeria, it was a success in Ghana, and she also said, “I didn’t decide to sing all by myself. It was decided for me because I was being managed by somebody who thought it would be a good idea…definitely, I will do it again but I will do my own kind of song. I’m a soul singer.”
We thank God that the actress will try soul music in her next outing because we obviously can take NO MORE of her highlife/hip-life concoction.
Tonto Dikeh
Call her Miss Controversy and you wouldn’t be too far from the truth.
Tonto Dikeh eats and drinks controversy like vitamin supplements, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, she comes out with yet another.
Years before Kim Kardashian ‘broke the internet’ with her nude pictures, Tonto had attempted a similar feat in 2012 with the release of two of her songs, ‘High’ and ‘Itz Over’.
Barely hours after the songs (can they be called that?) were released, the actress actually trended on Twitter and other social media sites.
As a matter of fact, those songs remain some of the most downloaded of all time by a Nigerian; and it’s not because people like them so much.
So many people took to Twitter to lambast the actress-turned-singer for unleashing such ‘Weapons of Ear Destruction’ on the populace without prior warning. The reactions generated a lot of tweets, memes…and even comedians had a field day with the humour capital they got from the songs.
Trust Tonto, she took time out to respond to every insult hurled her way for the songs.
She has since released other songs after that such as ‘Carriage’, ‘Crazically Fit and ‘Sugar Rush’.
Even though she hasn’t found commercial success as an artiste, her subsequent efforts didn’t receive so much bashing as before. Perhaps, the fans have made peace with her music. And she has found home in D’banj’s DB Records.
Jim Iyke
He is the quintessential bad boy in Nigerian movies who takes no prisoners. Hugely popular across Africa, Jim Iyke surprised not a few when he announced that he would be releasing some songs.
He had said then that music was actually his first love, and fans waited with bated breath to see what he would deliver.
He released ‘Born To Do This’ feat Puffy T and ‘Who am I’ feat 2face Idibia, both in 2009.
‘Who am I’ some airplay, but ‘Born To Do It’ tanked badly. Best described as a rap artiste, Jim Iyke failed to connect with hip-hop lovers in the country as his lines weren’t considered deep and inspiring, or even catchy enough to move the crowd.
Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde
She was listed by Time magazine as one of the most influential persons in the world in 2013, but if we were to compile a list of top 1000 singers in Nigeria, Omotola wouldn’t make the cut.
She kick-started her music career in 2005 with the release of her debut album, Gba, which had songs such as ‘The Things You Do To Me’ and ‘Gba’ amongst others. Despite the monumental failure of that experiment, she went on to release her sophomore album Me, Myself and Eyes some years later.
However, many of her fans have begged and advised her to give music a wide berth as none of her songs has been a commercial, radio, or TV success.
One of her sons, 16 years old MJ, is now a music producer, and we hope that finally, Omosexy can pass on the baton to her son and let it go.
According to a fan of the actress, Samuel Eghosa, “We prefer seeing her in movies, reality shows and events than in music videos.”
Patience Ozokwor
She has acted in over 100 movies, and is often the first point of call when directors want to cast someone as a wicked mother.
Patience Ozokwor, popularly known as Mama G, also delved into the music industry and the results aren’t palatable.
Her songs include ‘Adaeze’, ‘Make We Jolly’, ‘National Moi Moi’ and ‘Ihe Neme N’uwa’. Not of them can be referred to as a commercial success.
The talented actress has relented in churning out new music, and we hope it stays that way.
Nkem Owoh
It goes without saying that incredibly funny thespian, Nkem Owoh, knows his onions as far as interpreting roles are concerned.
The rib-cracker has also ventured into music. Even though his ‘Chop Your Dollar’ the others are best described as ear-sores.
One of his songs, ‘Akalaka’ met with negative reception from fans who roundly criticised the song for its lack of originality and depth.
Furthermore, ‘Chop Your Money’ was subsequently banned by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for promoting internet fraud.
Coming next: Nollywood actors who can actually sing
