The last time I wrote a slanderous article about Octopizzo,the WHOLE country read it. And I mean,the whole muthafuckin’ Country. If you didn’t read it,you need to confirm your nationality. And here we are again,3 beautiful years later…
Back then,he was the hottest thing on the music scene. He was the brightest rap star. He was the easiest target of attack. He was locked in all of these explosive rap feuds. He was a threat to many a Kenyan rapper. He was inspiring many young men nationally. He’d started having a serious,almost cultist following. He had the hardest,rawest,wittiest and most brilliant bars. He was the talk of town. Not anymore.
Last weekend,at some not-so-glamorous Award Ceremony,held at the Prestige Plaza,egocentric Kibera-bred Rapper Octopizzo won the Award for ‘Comeback Artist of the Year’. And then he went on a childish tirade,both online and offline,disparaging the Awards,downplaying his own win,humiliating the event organizers and descending into one of those Kanye West-esque pontifical rants,claiming that the Award was misplaced,claiming he never really went anywhere to deserve a ‘Comeback Award’ and going on and on about his imagined contribution to the state of Hip Hop in Kenya.
His infantile reaction to the Award was a towering pillar of arrogance,haughtiness and unbridled mannerlessness.
Instead of humbly accepting the Award,it’s inconsistencies notwithstanding,Octopizzo trashed it and poo-pooed it. He declined an honor. He bit a hand that was feeding him and took to Social Media to paint the Bingwa Award organizers as buffoons and ignorant blokes.
He channeled his inner Mr. West and needlessly,lampooned the very entity that had sought to Award him,thus plunging them into confusion and even deciding to declare his own winner of the particular category; Wahu.
Admittedly,the whole Bingwa Awards ceremony was a sick joke. The event itself was pure recklessness and the manner in which the Awards were dished out was as haphazard as they come. It lacked the class and finesse typically exhibited by more established Award shows. But still,that wasn’t reason enough to trash and spit on their faces.
Octopizzo,in his argument,claimed that he’d been around for as long as he (and his fans) could remember and there was no way he had left the Industry and therefore,the Award was misplaced.
But even before things got this far,had Octopizzo heard of the Awards before? Hadn’t he heard that he was a nominee? Assuming he had,why didn’t he take time call the organizers in good time and ask them to kindly expunge his name from the nominees list? Did he have to wait until he’d won the Award to suddenly jump at the opportunity to sound off at the organizers and score some quick,petty victory for himself?
Every Awards management usually takes the time to alert a Nominee that they have been nominated in some particular category. Either through email or SMS. And,hoping that Octo was alerted as well,why didn’t he DECLINE the nomination in good time? And save himself and everyone else the nonsense?
Also,the fact that anyone even considered nominating Octopizzo in that list says alot about Octopizzo’s presence in music for the last couple years. Octopizzo wants us to believe that he has been actively involved in music non-stop while everyone else has other ideas.
The fact that anyone considered you a ‘Comeback Artist’ means that you MUST have fallen off the radar, gone under,quit the business and paused musical activities and now you’re back. But if Octopizzo INSISTS that he had been around for all this long,then what has he been doing? What has he been releasing? Can anyone name a recent Octopizzo song off the top of their minds? What video has he done lately? What solo project has he been in? What Octopizzo song is currently ruling the airwaves? Who has been buzzing about Octopizzo of late? What headlines have we seen on Octopizzo lately? NONE!
In fact,the ONLY reason Octo didn’t deserve the Award is actually because he is actually YET to make a comeback. He’s still lost. Still in the shadows. Still silent. Still gone. Still inactive. Still dead.
He claims to have been around all this time… Around where? Doing what? With who? With that stunted upstart Cece Sagini girl? Dude,even that collabo was a train wreck!
Instead of quietly accepting the Award and thanking God that people actually still Award him,given his recent losses and massive creative erosion,Octopizzo decided to DECLINE an honor. Hoping to emerge the bigger man. But man,what a loss.
A screenshot from Octopizzo’s Facebook Page
He then went on to remind us if that Ivo Ivo song that he did pre-Jubilee Government as if anyone even cares anymore. To Octopizzo,Ivo Ivo is some kind of classic by which all Kenyan music should be measured and gauged. To him,Ivo Ivo is like Prince’s Purple Rain,Michael Bolton’s When A Man Loves A Woman,50 Cent’s In Da Club,Aretha Franklin’s Natural Woman,Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You or Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World.
He couldn’t be more deluded. The last time Octopizzo had an honest hit song on radio was way back in 2014. Back then,he was popping. He was the sh*t. He was happening. He was making waves. He was calling the shots.
And then he fell off. And fell off hard. He started making imitation music. He adopted an accent. Thought he could rap in English and started making long,undocumented European sojourns.
The gritty Octopizzo was gone. He mellowed and went full commercial. He also started dressing corny,nigga out here looking like a High School Musical. The gangster image he had was now gone. He was no longer the ruthless ghetto rhyme boy. He went all Ariana Grande on us… And,along the way,even forgot he was ever a rapper.
He entangled himself with all manner of activist movements,started aligning himself with the plight of refugees,doing shows in Refugee camps and spending days in locked meetings with UNCHR honchos. He evolved… Morphed from a rapper to an environmental activist,moved from Big Daddy Kane to Natalya Estemirova.
And along the way,even the skill was gone. The creativity was stifled,the music output was massively eroded and the charm was killed.
Thus,if there was someone who deserved a comeback it’s Octopizzo. But did he deserve an Award? For coming back? No! Why? He’s still NOT YET BACK.
This man hasn’t made any new release. He hasn’t dropped a new jam. He doesn’t have a number one video currently. He isn’t the current talk of town. We aren’t currently jamming to his song in the clubs. And he’s not been on the front page of any major publication or magazine.
So,did he even deserve the Award? Hell no! Not even Wahu, his idiotic choice for the Award,deserved it.
Instead of rushing to blast the organizers,jeering at them and ridiculing them,even rebuffing the Award, Octo should’ve taken the safer route ; Accept the Award,however ridiculous it is,make a little acceptance speech,make a little joke over how surprised he was that he won that particular award and then walk his proud skinny ass down the podium and shut the hell up.
Raising drama was uncalled for. Acting all moody and furious was stupid. And asserting his status and attempting to remind us of his waning relevance was pure garbage.
Even his own fans on Facebook shut him down,called him out for his sudden arrogance,asked him to turn down the volume of his pirde and told him off for the way he stupidly conducted himself after the Award. His own fans!
But this is a different Octopizzo. One who is all of a sudden bold and confident. One who has since left the gutters and trenches. One who has since afford a better life and settled down. One who has started making money and making numerous European travels. One who has the honor of being appointed into some NGO boards. One who feels smarter,bolder,wealthier and more powerful.
He’s not the mild Octo anymore. But a different, ferocious breed whose been corrupted and changed by the power of the Almighty Dollar.
An Octopizzo who fell off years ago. But still thinks he’s relevant,still thinks he’s the shit, still thinks he schooled us all and still thinks he matters.
What a waste of what was once a brilliant rap star.
Well… Have several seats,Mista Number Nane.
You ain’t what you think you still are. And as for that Award,you didn’t deserve it,I agree. Because YOU HAVEN’T YET MADE A COMEBACK in the first place.
Good luck in your UN-Habitat endeavors. And better luck bagging the Nobel Award for Peace. Oh please….Mr. Wangari Maathai. LOL.
