Big Brother Naija winner should not invest N25M in music

Forget President Buhari, the most pressured man in Nigeria right now is Efe Ejeba. The upcoming rapper who is the winner of the Big Brother Naija reality TV show is everybody’s man.

He arrived into the country on the night of Monday, April 10, 2017, where he was greeted by a horde of fans before being whisked away to a secure location. All over social media, he has become the symbol of trumph for the common man, as Nigerians regard him as the embodiment of the struggle.

The next day he received a cheque of the 25 million Naira prize money, and a key to a brand new KIA Sorento car, and was the star attraction at a press conference, where he answered questions about his time in the house, and many more.

The former housemate received the prize at a press conference which held on April 11, 2017, at Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria. The press conference was attended by the Big Brother Naija runner-up, Bisola. Former housemates including Bally, Soma, Gifty, TTT, Jon, CocoIce and Bassey were also in attendance.

And as the dust settles, Efe will be under the most intense pressure to become more than ‘the guy who won Big Brother’. Everyone expects this to be his starting point in life. He is under immense pressure now to make big decisions and progress or regress. Armed with N25 million and an SUV, he is stepping into a world where everyone would want to collect from him.

But where does he go from here?

Before BBN, Efe was a young hustling upcoming rapper, who has an EP out titled “Lagos.” The project was reviewed by Pulse Nigeria, and you can read it here. It was a poor project, inhibited by the lack of investment. He has N25 million burning in his pocket now, and somewhere someone is whispering to him to chase this music thing.

But that will be unwise. Efe should not channel his newfound wealth into investing in a music career. It would be the mistake of a lifetime. One that he is bound to regret.

The Nigerian music industry is a black hole for cash. It sucks almost everything thrown into it, with very little promise of a return on investment. Industry estimates reveal that to break a new artist, it would cost N20 million of investment. For someone who was marketed as a ‘poor artist’, throwing that cash into such an unstable industry will be detrimental, especially if it fails to yield fruit. The variables are too much.

If Efe decides to do music, he has to seek external investment because he is a juicy prospect. Half the job of making a star in Nigeria is to achieve fame. Millions are spent into marketing an artist to the public, before introducing the art. Efe already has that sorted. He is as famous as they come. Right now, he is the most popular man in Nigeria.

That’s half the job done.

Anyone who invests in Efe’s career will focus on the content. Judging from his existing body of work, the rapper is still rough around the edges, and will need plenty of coaching to get him to up his game. That will cost a lot of money, but not as much as marketing a new artist.

Efe’s N25 million should be funneled to other ventures to help set himself up and his family. If he has plans to continue his music career, he has to attract external investment.