Nigerians woke up to a rude shock
on Wednesday when video dance queen, Kaffy, posted on her social media
an account blasting Davido for refusing the services of dancers at the
last minute.
The dance queen called the pop star
various unprintable names and claimed that Nigerian musicians have no
regard for dancers. Although she has apologized for using profane words,
she did not really apologise for the insults she rained on the pop
star.
Davido’s manager, Kamal Ajiboye, said Kaffy was seeking for attention which he said the camp would not give her.
He said, “I am not aware of any problem
between Davido and Kaffy. Davido said that he didn’t need dancers for
his performance and I don’t see how that is a problem. We saw what she
posted online but we chose to ignore it because we are too busy to
comment on such. Davido does not have any particular dancer that he
works with. During the particular show, while he was about to perform,
the organizers wanted to include dancers with his performance and he
declined because the stage would not be big enough for him and the
dancers to perform. I don’t know how that should be anybody’s problem.
“During a show that he had at Eko Hotel,
he had about 30 dancers on stage with him. If he does not have regard
for dancers, would he have employed their services? People just like to
seek for attention and we would not give it to them. The only thing I
can think of is that she is just seeking for attention. I mean they
wanted to put dancers on his stage and all Davido said was that he did
not want. How is that anyone’s problem? I think you should call Kaffy
and ask if she has any problem with Davido.”
In the meantime,
Davido Music Worldwide (DMW)
henchman, David Adeleke, aka ‘Davido’, has finally responded to Kaffy’s recent
social media outburst accusing him of firing her dancers on stage at the
3-Thrones concert which recently held at the Eko Convention Center, Lagos.
Reacting to Kaffy’s outburst and her
use of profane and unprintable words in describing him, the Skelewu hit-maker
said he has nothing against the foremost choreographer and fitness trainer,
Kaffy.
According to him, he was shocked to
have seen Kaffy’s 1-miniute video on Instagram, hurling abuses at him for
something he is completely innocent of.
Meanwhile, Kaffy has since apologised for her
uncultured outburst, but not until the dance crew leader, Dance Na The Main
Thing (DMNT), Michael Igbelabo, debunked Kaffy’s allegations, saying Davido
never fired them or had any altercation with them. He later suggested that
Davido may have possibly offended Kaffy before the 3-Thrones concert, which
made her rain such profane words on him.‘Kaffy was not at the 3 Thrones concert and Davido DID NOT send dancers off stage’ – DNMT boss
Nigerian dance queen Kaffy released a fiery video online blasting Davido for maltreating dancers.
In the video, she blamed Davido and other Nigerian pop stars for the
bad way they treat dancers and went on to call him a ‘motherfucker’.Davido has so far kept mum and declined to comment on the issue, but a new video on social media caught our attention, where Davido was seen on stage at the 3 Thrones concert dancing with DNMT (Dance Na the Main Thing) dancers.
Our correspondent immediately reached out to the lead choreographer of DNMT, Michael Igbelabo who spoke to us exclusively, saying Davido did not send his dancers off stage at any time.
In his words, ‘I really understand and appreciate Kaffy standing up for dancers but on this 3 Thrones show, she was not around or involved, the only way she came in is through Tiwa Savage, she’s been her official choreographer for a long time. But for Davido and Phyno’s set, DNMT were the official dancers and no one was sent off stage.’
He continued to say, ‘All Davido said during rehearsals was he won’t want the dancers to do all the songs because he’ll want to do some songs alone, but the organisers insisted and he was cool with it. We did all the songs together and no one complained or shouted backstage and that was why I even posted the video on Instagram the next day. Davido may have offended Kaffy before that day I wouldn’t know, but am sure of this particular one and of course my dancers know I’ll always fight for them no matter what if he did send them off stage I’ll be the one calling him out.’
‘You don’t treat us right, you don’t pay us’ – Nigerian dancer calls out Kaffy
Another dancer has come out to contradict what Kaffy said in her angry Instagram post to further fuel the ensuing drama between her and Davido.
Two days ago, in a fiery Instagram video, she called out Davido for treating dancers badly and sending them off stage at the just concluded ‘3 Thrones’ concert in Lagos and even went on to call him a ‘motherfucker’.
A few hours later, a new video surfaced online showing Davido performing with dancers on stage at the same event, and the lead choreographer, Micheal Igbelabo of DNMT spoke exclusively to Thenetng saying, ‘Davido never sent dancers off stage‘.
In the words of Micheal Omani, ‘I disagree with what Kaffy. If you want to throw shades at anybody, do it without involving dancers because the same thing you said Davido did to you is what you do to us and I bet if dancer vote we’ll vote you out that you are wrong. You call dancers for shows, you don’t pay them, you take dancers to Calabar and you leave them there stranded, call dancers to your house and put 50 people in one room and you travel round the world calling yourself queen of dance in Nigeria. A queen takes care of her followers, you don’t take care of us and you are putting us in your beef.’
The plot thickens.
‘I’m always used to being the victim’ – Davido speaks on Kaffy’s angry video
- The Sony Music signee has commented on the angry video posted by Kaffy that is currently causing a stir.
According to Davido, ‘I don’t have any problem with her, I was even shocked to see that. You know, I’m always used to being the victim.’
When asked how he would react when next he sees her, he said, ‘I’d be like ‘Hey, hello. What’s up? I hope there’s no problem.’
Recall that the drama began when Kaffy called out Davido and other artistes for their maltreatment of dancers, later saying that ‘Davido was just the last straw.’
That video has however now led to two other dancers contradicting what Kaffy had to say in the video in which she called Davido a ‘motherfucker’.
‘Davido didn’t pay Kaffy for our One Africa Music Fest performance’ – One of the dancers speaks
- Sarah says she has been a victim of Davido's disrespectful gestures.
Since Nigerian dance queen, Kaffy accused Davido
of treating some dancers at the just concluded 3Thrones concert
disrespectfully, there has been a series of revelations and more
accusations.
Davido has maintained he has no problem
with Kaffy, but he has again been accused of meting out same treatment
to his backup dancers during the One Africa Music Fest in New York in
July.
Sarah Olaniran, a
dancer based in Chicago, United States stated in support of Kaffy today,
October 27, that she paid dancers from her money after Davido refused
to pay for their performance.
According to Sarah, Davido initially
dismissed his dancers, only for him to call them back upon realisation
he’d still have to pay, but never fulfilled his part of the deal.
‘This entire situation about
Nigerian artists disrespecting dancers is far beyond ‘DavidO’.
@kaffydance used the reoccurring events of Davids disrespect as an
example of how a lot of Nigerian musicians (not all) do not appreciate
dancers and our contributions to their crafts ( stage, music Videos or
even promo social media videos).
‘Being that I was part of the first
incident at the One Africa Music Fest (NewYork) I know how I felt when
David decided right as we were walking on stage that he no longer wanted
dancers. I personally felt disrespected and felt like he had no regards
for my artistry as a dancer. At this point we all were upset and had to
change right in the stadium, in front of all these people.
‘Then @kaffydance tells his manager
that he’ll still have to pay the dancers because of our time wasted (
dressed and on stage) then his manager runs back to us and said ” He
still wants dancers, he just didn’t want the for the first song. Tell
them to get on for the next songs” Irritated and stressed we still got
up there and did what we had to do. Fast forward a few weeks later,
Kaffy had to pay the dancers out of her own pocket. I know this Cus I
was there and I did the transfer to the dancers.
‘Kaffy NEVER GOT PAID! While David’s
manager kept telling her he’ll pay soon only for David to finally tell
her that he’s NOT PAYING! Please tell me why she wouldn’t be pissed off?
This is not about 3thrones (that was just him disrespecting dancers at
rehearsals) this is about the never ending disrespect and underpaying of
dancers in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
‘Y’all WE NEED TO FIX THIS! Coming
for Kaffy is not the issue and DavidO is not the issue. This is like a
plague that needs to be flushed out of the system. I am not saying kaffy
doesn’t have her faults (we all have our faults) but this is not a
kaffy thing – it’s a dancer thing. RESPECT THE DANCER – PAY THE DANCER –
ACKNOWLEDGE THE DANCER!’
‘I have a problem with Davido. He’s not serious and owes me for 3 months’ – Kaffy
- According to Kaffy, 'The truth is Davido is not even the kind of client I'll be dying for. He's not serious, he's not focused.'
The mother of two cleared the air on the confusion caused by her angry rant that led people to believe Davido sent dancers off stage at the just concluded 3 Thrones concert in Lagos. Rather she said the incident happened three months ago in New York.
‘The deal I had with Davido concerning driving dancers off stage was on July 22, 2016 at the Barclays Center in New York for the One Africa Music Festival, it was not 3 Thrones,‘ she said.
Kaffy added that, ‘He had already told me to hire dancers to dance for him but when he was about to get on stage he suddenly said he doesn’t need them anymore and the dancers were already by the stage. I looked at his manager and I was like, ‘does he know he’ll still have to pay them, because they are American dancers, they rehearsed and were ready to go on stage.’ So a few minutes later, Davido’s manager, Kamal came backstage and said they can join him on stage now, that Davido wanted to do the first couple of songs alone. I knew It was a cover up but regardless, the girls went on stage and danced with him. Since then, it’s almost three months now and they are yet to pay. I had to pay the girls with my own money.‘
Read the rest of the interview below…
So why did you release the Instagram rant immediately after the 3 Thrones concert?
I’ve been pursuing the money since July. The two weeks before 3 Thrones, we met in Abuja for the Star Trek show and I spoke with Kamal again like ‘bros you don forget me o’. And he told apologised and said ‘Kaffy we can’t pay you in dollars anymore, we’ll pay you in naira’, and I was like ‘no problem just make sure you pay me the equivalent of the current dollar rate’ because I paid the girls in dollars and he said no problem I won’t have to remind him again.
Then I left for the recent One Music Festival, on my arrival, I remembered they’ve not paid, I sent him a text and he replied like one hour after saying, ‘Davido says he’s not paying after all he already said he didn’t want the dancers.’
So back to the question, that day I was at a video shoot, so while I was complaining about the text Kamal had just sent, dancers around said that’s how he behaved at rehearsals for 3 Thrones, that he came and was rude to everyone and told the dancers that there’s a particular perimeter on stage that they should not enter, at that point I was so pissed off before I made the video.
How much is the money…
I don’t want to disclose the cost, I don’t want to go into that, but it’s the kind of money they can pay. So this particular incidence was like the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
At the moment, is Davido the only artiste that owes you?
A lot of people owe me, it’s not only Davido that’s why I said all of una, even companies. But the truth is Davido is not even the kind of client I’ll be dying for. He’s not serious, he’s not focused, he doesn’t come for rehearsals.
Will you still collect the money from Davido now or just let it go?
It’s my sweat and I will collect my pay. I don’t care about him saying he doesn’t have a problem with me, I have a problem with him. He’s enjoying the misdirection of the fans, he’s not coming forward to clear the air or apologise and say he’ll pay me my money, they’ve not even called me, they’ve ignored me till this point I’m talking to you.
‘All the dancers ganging up against me are babies’ – Kaffy
- 'The dancers ranting are babies, the ones
that are in my league, they are coming together, they are forming an
association, they are doing rallies, seminars and forums.'
A couple of young dancers led by Micheal Omani called her out saying, ‘I disagree with what Kaffy. If you want to throw shades at anybody, do it without involving dancers because the same thing you said Davido did to you is what you do to us and I bet if dancer vote we’ll vote you out that you are wrong’.
Kaffy in an exclusive interview with Thenetng responded to them saying, ‘These same dancers rising up against me are the same people I have sacrificed for. It’s because they don’t know the nitty gritty of the industry, the countless hours of meetings. If they know that they are that good, why can’t they progress on their own, why are they coming to look for jobs in my place. If I truly don’t pay them why are they still coming till now, most times clients don’t pay I cover it up with my money. Some of them even go behind my back to say they are the ones that teach me dance steps all in a bid to get jobs behind my back and when they mess it up the client comes back to me. If I’m an evil person, how would I have sustained my career for 15 years and be on top till now. They won’t tell you the great things I’ve done for them they’ll only tell you when they feel uncomfortable. i got this far not because of how well i dance, I got this far because of my heart.’
In her words, ‘The dancers ranting are babies, the ones that are in my league, they are coming together, they are forming an association, they are doing rallies, seminars and forums. It is going to change from now that’s why I’ve been speaking to the organisers of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference to get dancers on that platform.’
‘Micheal is just kissing ass, I formed DNMT with Ruggedman’ – Kaffy
'He hasn't even called me to ask or verify anything about this issue yet I'm fighting for them all. He wants to stay neutral because he's licking ass'.
And when Thenetng spoke with Micheal Igbelabo, the lead choreographer for DNMT (Dance Na The Main Thing) who were the official choreographers for the event, he said, ‘I really understand and appreciate Kaffy standing up for dancers but on this 3 Thrones show, she was not around or involved, the only way she came in is through Tiwa Savage, she’s been her official choreographer for a long time. But for Davido and Phyno’s set, DNMT were the official dancers and no one was sent off stage.’
Kaffy has now responded to Micheal in an exclusive interview with Thenetng saying, ‘This DNMT they are shouting about, I formed it with Ruggedman many years ago. Ruggedman was the one that named the group DNMT from his ‘Baraje’ song back then. I formed the group but I met so much animosity because people were jealous of me. The same people that I auditioned ganged up against me and I withdrew.’
Kaffy adds that, ‘And now, even Micheal is part of the problem. He hates me so much and has twisted the minds of many dancers against me but he’ll see me and be laughing. And he hasn’t even called me to ask or verify anything about this issue yet I’m fighting for them all. He wants to stay neutral because he’s kissing ass.’
Kaffy vs Davido: How come she doesn’t know that what dancers do is a business?
- All the rants would not have been necessary if contracts were drawn up and signed.
But it is ridiculous that she would claim that an artiste owes her for three months. So at no point of her 15-year career has she learnt that verbal agreements are meaningless. Has her inclusion on Project Fame‘s faculty not taught her that the only binding thing in a fluid industry like entertainment is a motherfucking contract?!
The truth of the matter is, dancers – like video vixens – have no idea what their place is in the music business. They do not know that what they do is a talent, a service that ought to be properly compensated. Did you hear how Kaffy described the payment the dancers were supposed to receive for their work? Paltry. She called it ‘paltry’.
It is paltry because many of them get into the game by being members of an entourage and hoping to sleep their way up the ladder. Once they get passes to shows and are allowed into nightclubs, they assume that their career has taken off.
Of course this is not to say that every dancer sleeps with artistes and video directors, but it is common knowledge within the industry what happens on the sets of music videos and backstage of shows.
Kaffy’s intentions might have been noble to start with, claiming that she’s fighting for the upcoming dancers that Davido treated badly; but with the latter’s denial and her subsequent interview with us where she said she wasn’t talking about the 3 Thrones Concert but the One Music Africa Festival back in July, what was made clear is that she still doesn’t get how the industry works. She said even companies owe her. Ah, Kafaya you no try!
How many times have you heard artistes and producers go at each other for ‘concept theft’ and ‘stolen ideas’? It goes on all the time in our growing music industry. On the flip side, how many times do you hear it in the foreign market? Almost never. That’s because the business part of ‘showbiz’ is taken more seriously than the ‘show’ part.
Nothing is left to chance. Artistes sign contracts with songwriters, producers, vocalists, dancers, video vixens – everybody has a document stating exactly is expected of them. At a point, Britney Spears‘ dancers had to sign contracts that forbade them from consuming drugs and alcohol anywhere near the pop star.
The artiste has a contract with the show organisers. His 20 minutes or whatever time his performance lasts is not for free. Missing the show would have consequences. In the same vein, dancers that are recruited for the set ought to have some indemnity against matters like this. That a senior dancer like Kaffy doesn’t know that is quite disgraceful.
But then, like I said earlier, most of them are there for the thrills. For their sake they need to to learn where the thrill ends and work begins.
SOURCE/CREDIT: NETNG