There is no doubt that controversial singer, Azeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley, has a lot of fans and their numbers seem to be growing by the day. Despite his vulgar lyrics, the Opotoyi singer’s admirers are drawn from various walks of life.
However, many were surprised when a 56-year-old actor, Jude Chukwuka, became an Internet sensation after posting video clips of himself singing along to one of Marley’s songs titled, Mafo.
In an interview with Sunday Scoop, Chukwuka, who speaks Yoruba fluently, said, “I enjoy singing and in recent times, Naira Marley has become my favourite artiste. It’s like I help my contemporaries to hear and understand what these young boys are doing. I don’t know why the video of Mafo that I posted went viral. I had actually wanted to do another song but I changed my mind and that one went viral. I didn’t know it was going to spark such an interest globally and I’m glad it did. I cannot say how long it took me to learn the lines because I must have heard the song over a hundred times. Every time I heard it, I picked one or two lines and in a short while, I started to sing along.”
Recalling how he felt when he was informed that Naira Marley was ‘looking’ for him. He said, “I really cannot explain how I felt when I was told that Naira Marley was looking for me online. I got over 500 calls. When I eventually answered a colleague’s call, he told me to go on Instagram that Naira Marley was looking for me. I then went online and saw so many messages. I didn’t even know how to feel at first. But to keep my sanity, I switched off my phone, so no one could reach me till I got home.’’
