Singer's failure to know the meaning of 'EP', proves she's just one of us

It’s strike two for Seyi Shay as the singer has made another gaffe on TV. The pop singer who is fun, glitzy and glamorous never fails to take the brave road when probed with trick question (and sometimes normal questions).

The singer trended earlier this year when she gaffed on Pulse TV, looking host Chuey Chu squarely in the eye, and with little ceremony, pronounced ‘Two’ as ‘Tuwo’. This time she’s back again, for her effort on Hip TV’s primetime show, Trending. A video which is circulating online has the singer showing off her knowledge of music projects. Seyi is asked by the host to provide the meaning of the music abbreviation ‘EP’. She wasted no time in coming up with a reply. Only this time, we she supplied the wrong answer: ‘Electric Package’ rather than the correct ‘Extended Play’.

Social media has gone crazy, with the singer trending on twitter, and videos of her most recent blunder have been circulating the internet. Unlike the first visual in which the singer was led to the wrong pronunciation, this new video is more damning for the singer due to the simplicity of what she failed.

‘EP’ is an acronym for ‘Extended Play’, a term regularly used in the music circles. An EP (short for extended play) is a musical recording that contains more music than a single, but is usually too short to qualify as a full studio album or LP (Long Play). Seyi Shay, a seasoned pop singer who has an LP out is expected to know the meaning of that abbreviation. This woman is a successful singer who releases records for a living. She wakes up, records, packages her life, attend meetings, performs and has fun. The next day, it’s rinse and repeat. Those records might have been housed on an EP.

Seyi Shay, as we've established, is 30. She sings and makes music for a living, and she’s very good at it. She has a degree in Business Management from the University of East London. It is entirely possible that she spends her down time reading broadsheet opinion columns, digesting the works of Soyinka and debating global politics in Lagos coffee shops, but she's certainly never mentioned it on Twitter. When she responded to a journalist's question about the meaning of EP, she answered honestly, saying that it was, "Electric Package."

Here’s the lesson in this. Seyi Shay might be the scapegoat for all celebrity failings, but in truth, many artistes in Nigeria can fall victim of an ill-timed, honest error. Crucial abbreviations and terms such as EP, LP, synth, kick, discography, and many more are unknown by Nigerian artistes. It’s fact. I have seen this happen a number of times. Once, I had to explain the difference between an EP, LP and mixtape to a prominent pop singer, while proffering advice for him to package his music. (I don’t mean ‘Electric Package, please). He shocked me by repeatedly halting my progression to ask the most basic questions. Does it make them less stars? No. Are they less smart? No.

It simply makes them human. Just like the rest of us.