For recently disclosing his career itinerary for December 2021 in comparison to December 2022 where in the former he had only 3 shows 2 of which he personally begged for, Iyanya a Cross River born national artiste has won the admiration of Bassey Ekpo Bassey a Nollywood actor.
While his history with Iyanya, Bassey described the music artiste as one who is sincerely humble.
His words ‘The surprise for me has been his humility. Most stars lack that virtue and I definitely did not peg him as a humble person but his recent utterances have proven him to be not just humble but unpretentious.
Last year December 2021, I performed at 3 shows, one paid and I begged to perform at 2 just to be seen.
2022 December, I wake up and everyday to alerts for shows, haven’t had this kind of busy december since 2017.
20+ shows in on month.
God Thank you 🙏🏿— its iyanyaaaaaa💥 (@Iyanya) December 14, 2022
‘He said that he did only 3 shows in December last year and had to beg to feature in 2 of those without pay. Wow. How many entertainers tell the truth? Very few is your answer. This December he is over booked and long may it continue.’
Narrating how he first met the musician, Bassey said ‘I first knew Iyanya when we used to go ‘karaokeing’ as a group when Channel View Hotel Calabar, had just opened. He used to be the Karaoke handler.
‘Jeta Amata was part of our group and when he was auditioning for parts in a dance drama that included singing for the comissioning of the Tinapa Business Resort, he invited Inyanya to try out. He invited him because he was clearly the best singer around us by a mile.
‘Iyanya got the role and played the lead. He beat some of us who tried out, hands down. It was his first time singing for dignitaries, including former president Obasanjo and other invited foreign heads of state. It wasn’t going to be the last. In fact it was a percursor for what was to come. A preparation for greatness.
‘That he achieved greatness is not news but like most musicians he went into decline. Music is one of the toughest professions. Most do not come back but he did and in a big way.
It takes herculean determination to come back. A lot do not have the energy but he never gave up. He is back!’
EDITORIAL
This story amongst others are reviewed on Sparkling 92.3FM http://mixlr.com/sparkling923fm–2and FAD 93.1FM. Again, opinions expressed on NegroidHaven are exclusively the author’s not NH’s.
