They say marriage is not a game but a lifetime commitment. There is a lot of excitement that fans have when they hear that their favourite or not-so-favourite musician is getting married. People want to be able to discuss the potential spouse of the artist and rate them. Some are loved and others are hated because they don’t fit into the stereotype of what a musician’s wife/husband should look like.
I have noticed a trend of East African artists using fake weddings to promote their new songs in the market. You will see pictures of musicians on social media where they are getting married in lavish ceremonies. But just when you are starting to celebrate the good fortune of this artist you find out that it is a fake publicity stunt to gain fame when unleashing new music on the market. Video weddings are now the in thing in the music industry with artists’ copy-pasting what their fellow artists have already done to gain a huge fan base.
Today I have decided to sample some of the artists who have whipped up fans’ emotions with pictures from fake weddings only for fans to find out the wedding was a music video wedding, not a real wedding.
Here are a few artists who have pranked their fans.
1. Jaguar Kenya.
Back in the year 2014, Jaguar introduced the trick of fooling his fans with a publicity stunt of a wedding. With his song “one centimetre away” Jaguar posted photos that portrayed him walking down the aisle in what was a well-planned wedding. His fans took to social media to congratulate him for settling down in such a colourful wedding, without knowing it was just a video shot. After a few days of people talking, “One centimeter” was out as the song behind Jaguar’s fake wedding.
2. Brown Mauzo.
In 2015 another Kenyan artist Brown Mauzo whose real name is Fredrick Mtinda decided to do a copycat of what Jaguar had already done. Mauzo came out with posters announcing his wedding all over social media. This was after he had recorded his song “Sipendi Ukilia” and he decided to use a false wedding to ensure his fans get to listen to his new song. The video of the song got his fans off guard, little did they know it was a trick to get them clued to their TV screens.
3. Linex Sunday
Linex Sunday came to the limelight with his song SALIMA where he featured the king of bongo music, Diamond Platnumz. He had to strategize and ensure his next project didn’t out to be a disappointment. His song “Kwa Hela” also borrowed a leaf from Kenya in terms of using a fake wedding was the topic of discussion among many Tanzanians. His close friends broke the news of his marriage and he was trending as his fans congratulated him.
4. Akothee Kenya
Known to many as Kenya’s richest female celebrity, Akothee has not been left behind in this mix of fake wedding videos as her latest hit “Yuko Moyoni” tells it all. Rumours of the private wedding of Akothee while she was South Africa fueled speculations of the mother of five getting off the market. Akothee posted photos on her Instagram page accompanied with captions of how the wedding was a success. Only for fans to find out it was just a music video wedding. Akothee’s fiancé is from Switzerland and they are scheduled to tie the knot on 5 of November this year.
5. Chege Chigunda
Chigunga Mtoto wa Mama Saidi from Tanzania picked up the name Chege while he was studying in Kenya. On August 4th this year he dropped his brand new tune “Waache Waoane” featuring Diamond Platnumz. Just like his predecessors Linex Sunday also had a wedding prank that has seen his video generate more than 700 thousand views on YouTube within ten days.
6. Bahati Kenya
To sum up my list is gospel kid Kevin Bahati. While unleashing his new song Mapenzi, Bahati got married in a colourful wedding. There were pictures on social media of Bahati, his new bride and a number of Gospel DJs. The likes of Eric Omondi, Dj Mo congratulated Bahati without his fans knowing it was just another calculated move to launch a new song.
Being an artist is not a walk in the park, it requires a creative mind that will help you remain relevant in the game and I guess pranking people that you are getting married so that you can create a buzz is the new it.
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