“Olamide lo gbe mi Trabaye o” : From Portable to Asake, Mastering the vocabulary of fame.

Since studying fame for the last few years, I have paid attention to the various slang and urban youth's ways of describing their aspiration for fame. Everybody wants to blow! Now Asake (Ahmed Ololade) has added another one to our lexicon of fame, "Trabaye." Trabaye is not only to enjoy and have leisure and be successful. It is also to have a "breakthrough" to use that pentecostal language. We rounded up our panels on "of fame and fandom: African celebrities in Historical and Contemporary Perspective" at the 6th Lagos Studies Association Conference yesterday, an exciting panel despite technical glitches.

Ebuka-Onuoha Pat Iziengbe spoke eloquently on the Benin women's "celebrification" or popularization of prostitution through sartorial and beauty practice, accumulation of accouterment of success from proceeds of transactional sex, and building of social capital and network that allow them to influence politics in Benin. Drawing on the history of prostitution and its transnational scope, she shows how class, sexual economics, theatrics, and controversy amplified by social media technology allow certain well-established sex workers of Benin origin to build a digital following of people that enable them to abandon shame in pursuit of further fame.

Uchechukwu Ifeoluwa Nnamdi and Victor Ikechukwu Akazue attempted a literary reading of Fame through Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart ." The authors challenge the audience to consider the ethical boundary between "honest fame and doubtful celebrities ." They linked the literary conceptualization of fame with famous contemporary individuals, from sports stars to entertainers. They argue that fame needs to be deployed for a moral purpose.

Odunayo Peter Oguinake explored fame from a historical perspective, mainly how music artists were celebrity endorsers of brands and companies before the contemporary celebrity endorsers and influencers. He seems to argue that indigenous celebrity African musicians used their fame to endorse moral values consistent with conservative moral aspirations.

Elueze Chidinma explores celebrity advocacy for child rights. Drawing on history, psychology, politics, religion, and digital media, she explores the complexities, tensions, and compelling circumstance that shapes why celebrity choose to speak on or otherwise on trending child rights. She challenges us to ponder whether celebrity activists are protectors or predators (that is, preying on vulnerability and the marginality of children)to clout chasing. Drawing on the clash, allegation, and counter allegation between Nollywood Ace Actress Kate Henshaw and Ubi Franklin Elueze asked us to ponder whether personal interest, gender, ethnicity, and space  could make celebrities complicit in the issue they are trying to speak about

In a previous post, I celebrated one of the minds that encouraged and influenced my continuous interest in fame and fandom studies. For those who read my post and in my circle, you must have heard me say one of the gifts of LSA to me is the connection to gracefully older and established scholars across race, gender, ethnicity, and various identity markers.

At LSA 2019, I presented a portion of my thesis titled "Navigating the Private and Public Worlds: Celebrity Advocacy and the Crisis of Popular Agency in Nigeria." The panel was chaired by my good friend and California sister. After the panel, an elderly and seasoned scholar approached me. They said he liked my presentation and thought it was valuable. He kept me standing for a long time, and I felt flattered. In addition, he gave me useful suggestions on how to proceed with my interest in celebrity studies. He encouraged me to put my work out beyond Nigeria. He did not stop at that; he introduced me to another highly esteemed scholar, a daughter of a renowned literary scholar. He had just met me less than a day and spoke glowingly of me. He gave me his card, and I contacted him to say thanks for his rare act of kindness. Months later, he wrote 2-3  letters of recommendation for me. Not long ago, I met him at another event in another part of the world, and he was extremely kind to me. I am speaking of none other than Prof Kolawole Olaiya. Professor Olaiya, thank you for your generosity with words and recognition of a seed that is still germinating. Sir, what you did that day is what I believe my sister-mum lived for to be critical but never to be cruel.

While LSA ended today, my studies on fame, fandom, celebrities, popular culture, and its multiplicities of intersections continue. Let us trabaye with this  emerging field together.

 Posted on Facebook on  June 25, 2022.

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