First time I knew about giveaways was sometime around 2010 or 2011 and it was through D’banj and Don Jazzy.
The music maestros not only showered their fans with airtime and cash gifts on Twitter, in some cases Don Jazzy will show up at a mall and then send out a tweet calling for fans to come around while he pays for their shopping.
No doubt, it was a beautiful time to be alive.
I dont know how long it will take me to go round everyone sha. but we go start small small. play in d studio, gist, go shopping, cinema etc
— SUPREMOS 🤍🐘 (@DONJAZZY) September 29, 2011
Don Jazzy would sometimes go see a movie with these fans or afford them the opportunity to visit his studio. That was probably the genesis of giveaways in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
The magical duo of Dbanj and Don Jazzy also successfully ran online campaigns like the Enigma and Oliver Twist competitions.
Chilling with Oliver twist competition winners. nice guyses.
— SUPREMOS 🤍🐘 (@DONJAZZY) February 29, 2012
While the Enigma competition was basically centred around a free beat Don Jazzy cooked and put out which rappers were to freestyle on, the Oliver Twist competition was a dance competition. IBK SpaceshipBoi won the Enigma competition.
Rappers go in on #Enigma. we wan hear rhymes & flow. spit venom, spit flame, drop bomb, kill sum1 w/ saliva… (cont) http://deck.ly/~y6jnJ
— SUPREMOS 🤍🐘 (@DONJAZZY) July 24, 2011
Trust me, there is no online campaign or giveaway being run today by Olamide, MC Galaxy, Tunde Ednut or the likes which is new under the sun.
Back then, you could win airtime or show tickets from the likes of Ruggedman and Jimmy Jatt. Infact, radio stations particularly Rhythm FM started leveraging on their partnerships to give out movie and show tickets. I personally won a few of those 😜.
For Don Jazzy and Dbanj, it was more than sharing airtime or money, it was about making an impact, connecting with their fans on a deeper level, promoting their works and creating new stars.
The popularity D’banj and Don Jazzy enjoyed for these giveaways coupled with the amazing music they created made them bigger stars than their peers.
Then, the crowd-mentality syndrome set in. Everyone wanted to do giveaways.
It was so bad that a month after the Enigma competition, Iceprince Zamani asked his fans to write a letter and the theme was “Why I Love IcePrince”🤣. The prize? A brand new BlackBerry Phone. Yes, this happened in August 2011.
Write why u love Ice Prince and Email to iceprincefans@gmail.com. Writer of Best essay wins a BB 9800 from me 🙂
— Iceprince (@Iceprincezamani) August 2, 2011
These days, everyone does a giveaway whether well thought out or not. Those giveaways have birthed a crop of youths who do nothing but camp in the DMs and mentions of celebrities.
We now have people who have permanently turned on post notifications for every ‘celebrity’ who is known for giveaways.
Infact, some giveaways these days are just so FAKE. For such fake giveaways, the winner is often a friend to the giveaway merchant. In some cases, no real winner emerges.
We had cases where winners emerged but claimed they never got their prize money. One very controversial giveaway was that of Kizz Daniel’s (then known as Kiss Daniel) Woju competition.
Winning a prize in giveaways is not as easy as people make it look. Making it your sole source of income is another conversation entirely.
Which giveaway competitions have you participated in and what has been your experience thus far?
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