In this era, it is more than paramount that a celebrity has the knack to create content that can go viral.
With everything driven by the Internet, creating viral content is essential to the modern day celebrity. Today the success of a movie or music video also depends on if the content can go viral quickly.
Celebrities like Drake and Kevin Hart are kings in creating content that can go viral at the drop of the hat. That is why they are insanely popular with this generation. They might not be the best at what they do but you cannot say they aren’t influential.
In Nigeria the music producer Don Jazzy is one of the biggest celebrities. One of the reasons why he is so famous and influential is that he has the knack to create songs, anthems, music videos that can go viral. No wonder brands scramble to get him as their ambassador.
Moving away from Don Jazzy, this article focuses on the Nigerian rap superstar Olamide.
The 26-year-old rapper who has been at the top of the game since 2010 is a master at creating viral content for the millennial generation. This is one of the solid reasons why millions regard as Nigeria’s hottest rappers.
Merriam Webster defines ‘viral’ as an idea, behaviour or style that “quickly and widely spread or popularized especially by person-to-person electronic communication.” If we go by this definition Olamide is a beast at going viral.
The rapper started his viral dominance in 2013 when he introduced the gunman pose. The gun man pose is based off Olamide’s stance on his third album cover – Baddest Guy Ever Liveth.
It wasn’t just a celebrity affair but a grass root phenomenon with thousands of people sharing pictures of their gunman pose on Twitter or Instagram. It was a digital event that helped propel the sales of Olamide’s third album.
After the phenomenon of the gunman pose Olamide knew he had a thing on his hands. From here on almost everything Olamide touched went viral.
The phrase ‘Goons Mi’ off his 2014 album ‘Street OT’ became a pop culture lingo. Last year Olamide continued to create more viral content. He made the dance ‘Shakiti bobo’ become a sensation and made sure that suffix ‘sneh’ was the new word in our lexicon.
On the first day of 2016, Olamide infamously went head to head with Don Jazzy. From the short-lived beef Olamide knowingly or unknowingly created buzz words that will catch on in less than 24 hours.
“Leave trash for LAWMA”, and “back to back” started trending on Twitter. Within the blink of an eye “Leave trash for LAWMA” shirts went up for sale
How is Olamide able to go viral easily? His superstar status might have something to do with it but it is largely down to his gift of being able to create buzz words, trends and phrases that are infectious, cool which appeals not only to his fan base but the cool kids as well.
His latest viral content the ‘Jagaban Pose’ is another example of how Olamide is a viral monster.
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