Jude ‘MI’ Abaga, the Nigerian rapper, has recounted being chased off the red carpet at the 2008 Headies awards to make way for ace actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde.
In a recent interview on the Vbyz TV Cartel, the 44-year-old record producer described the period leading up to the awards as one of unrecognised hard work.
Abaga said despite being nominated in the ‘Best Rap Single’ category, he was virtually unknown to event staff on arrival.
He detailed how, just before the ceremony, he and his manager were repeatedly shunted aside on the red carpet to accommodate the 47-year-old film star’s photo session.
“I have been grinding and no one cares about who I am and in February 2008, I was announced as the winner for ‘Best Rap Single’ and literally my life changed that day. I remember I was walking into the crowd with my manager and as we were walking in Omotola came in with her security,” he said.
“The people on the red carpet did not even know I was nominated, so they were just like ‘common get out of here’. So we went to stand at one other corner and because Omotola was moving from side to side to take her picture, they kept chasing us from place to place.
“I was just looking at stardom and two hours later, I had an award in my hand, a gold plaque from Ayo Animashaun and after that plaque, everybody was like ‘MI is in the game’. After that it was ‘Safe’, ‘Talk About It’ and ‘Incredible Music’.”
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