'Why fans no longer faint for musicians' - Paul Okoye

Nigerian singer and half of the defunct P-Square duo, Paul Okoye, aka Rudeboy, has claimed that social media has reduced the prestige and value fans attached to musicians due to the mystique that artistes had before the era of social media.

Speaking in a recent interview with Lun Lifestyle TV, Rudeboy argued that social media, despite all its benefits, has shattered the illusion of artistes being mysterious and godlike.

This he said has reduced the buzz artistes previously enjoyed whenever their fans got the opportunity to see them whether physically or visually.

The ‘Reason With Me’ crooner explained that because artistes are no longer mysterious, fans are no longer eager to watch them in music videos.

He claimed that shooting music videos is now a waste of money.

Rudeboy said, “Music videos somehow now, because of this generation, is a waste of money. I am sorry to say this. But do you remember us [P-Square] before? You don’t see us anywhere. You just watch music videos, you see us and that’s it, or we come to your country, you see us.

“The reason you don’t see people faint for artistes anymore is because they see them on TikTok every day dancing and promoting your music. If Michael Jackson was alive now and doing promotional content on social media, nobody would see him and faint.

“Unfortunately, it’s too late for us to bring back the era of artistes being mystiques. How can you advise an artiste to post every day? How? Post what? You don’t need to.

“Social media brought positive change to the industry but it also led to ‘see-finish.’ Artistes are now too exposed. Fans see how they eat, cry. Before when artistes go to club, they stay in restricted VIP areas, but now when they are clubbing, everyone is filming.”