Popular rapper M.I Abaga has recounted how he was chased off the red carpet at the 2008 Headies Awards. He recently revealed that he was asked to leave the red carpet so Nollywood actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde could take photos.
Speaking during an interview with Vbyz TV Cartel, MI said that the incident happened when he was still struggling for recognition.
According to him, as soon as Omotola got on the red carpet with her security guards, attention was diverted to the bigger star, and he was chased off to make way for her grand entrance.
Abaga stated that he and his manager were asked to step off because people did not even realize that he was nominated for the “Best Rap Single” award that night.
“I have been grinding and no one cares about who I am and in February 2008, I was announced as the winner for ‘Best Rap Single’ and literally my life changed that day.
I remember I was walking into the crowd with my manager and as we were walking in Omotola came in with her security. The people on the red carpet did not even know I was nominated, so they were just like ‘common get out of here’” he said.
The lyricist further noted that even when he tried to stay in one corner, he was told to step off completely because Omotola needed space for her pictures.
M.I. concluded by saying that winning an award for his debut single, “Crowd Mentality”, completely transformed how people saw him going forward.
“So we went to stand at one other corner and because Omotola was moving from side to side to take her picture, they kept chasing us from place to place.
Two hours later, I had an award in my hand, a gold plaque from Ayo Animashaun and after that plaque, everybody was like ‘MI is in the game’” he added.
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