The music industry is not an easy one to break into. Even if you’re able to break in, it is very hard to get success and then once you even get success, maintaining success and momentum is a whole other beast.
Some artistes have made it in the Nigerian music industry but then later seemed to completely vanish from the scene. Today we’ll be counting down 5 of such artistes and asking what happened to them, as well as seeing where these artistes are today. Are you ready to jump in and see what happened to some of your favorite artistes? Then let’s go!
1, Lucy Candy May
Do you remember Lucy Candy May? She was the girl that was supposed to become the first lady of Rudeboy Recordz. She was marketed as Nigeria’s Rihanna and was supposed to become what Ayra Starr has ended up being now in the Nigerian music industry. Lucy’s first single “Special Driver” which had a high-budget music video that featured Cynthia Morgan and Rudeboy garnered over 160,000 views on Youtube and impacted radio.
But since the release of that song and music video, Lucy seems to have completely disappeared from the Nigerian music industry. In fact, if you Google or search for the name Lucy Candy May now, mainly posts and articles from 2016. the time of her debut, come up. The social media handle @LucyCandyMay is also now empty with only 5 followers.
So what happened to the woman that was supposed to become Nigeria’s own Rihanna?
Well, Lucy Candy May now goes under the new stage name EONY. After the whole drama with Cynthia Morgan and Square Records, and also after seeing the underperformance of Lucy’s Special Driver, Rudeboy parted ways with Lucy. Today, she is operating under the name EONY and is the chair and co-founder of Women in Music Nigeria.
2. Ayo Jay
Ayo Jay’s song Available was one of my favorite songs of that year. Ayo Jay was young, gifted, and had a very strong fanbase that were completely rooting for him to blow. When his song Your Number eventually started getting more traction and became an international hit with over 30 million views and features from Chris Brown, Fetty Wap, and Kid Ink, it was evident that Ayo Jay had become an international artiste.
We all thought that he would go on to do what CKay has done on the international scene. So what happened? Where is Ayo Jay now?
Well, Ayo is keeping a very low profile especially on social media. His last Instagram post as at the time of this publication was August of 2021. Still, he is releasing music. Last year he released a new EP called Wonder Shall Never End. One of the songs Paranoia on the EP currently has over 700,000 streams. Guess he’s not completely lost from the scene yet.
3. Dammy Krane
Dammy Krane burst onto the scene in 2012 and during that time he released a number of hit songs including My Dear, Ligali, and more. Dammy was seen as one of the artistes to watch and was already building quite a strong fanbase for himself.
Then, calamity struck when news broke out in 2017 that the singer had been arrested in the United States for grand theft, credit card fraud, and identity fraud. However in August 2017, the American courts struck out all charges against him.
Since then, Dammy Krane has been radio silent on social media and everywhere. Finally, at the end of last year, he uploaded a new picture and announced new music, IJGB, which is out now.
4. Soty
Do you remember the song Malaria? I still play that song till today because it is such a good song. The woman responsible for that infectious jam is none other than Soty. Soty’s song was all over the radio and became a national viral sensation.
Then it seemed nothing was ever heard from her again, like she completely disappeared from the scene. What happened to Soty and where is she now?
Well, after Malaria, Soty kept on releasing a number of songs including Nobody, Igbisii, Wicked Boyz, and more. Unfortunately none of them did anything for her career. Eventually, she changed her name to Soty Da Grey and released new music under that name but the song also underperformed. Since Malaria, she has also gone on to marry and is now a mother. She still releases music from time to time.
5. Olu Maintain
Who doesn’t know or remember Yahooze and the Yahooze trend that year. The Yahooze dance was what the Gen-Z today would call a Tiktok dance sensation. People were doing the Yahooze dance everywhere and the song was a mega hit in Nigeria.
But it seemed that after Yahooze, Olu Maintain, the artiste behind the song was never able to replicate the success of Yahooze again. So what happened to him? Where is Olu Maintain now?
Well, Olu Maintain seems to be living the owo lifestyle he sang about in Yahooze. His Instagram shows him clubbing, travelling, and living the Yahooze lifestyle.
