JJC Skillz, the Nigerian singer and filmmaker, has revealed that he stopped performing at live events after a frustrating experience at an MTV-organised show in Ikeja, Lagos.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Fresh Off The Boat podcast, the 49-year-old, whose real name is Abdulrasheed Bello, recounted how MTV invited him to perform and even featured him on the event’s promotional poster.
He explained that after arriving at the venue, he waited backstage for about two hours while other artistes were repeatedly allowed to perform ahead of him.
According to JJC, the organisers told him they wanted to save his performance for later because he was an “OG.” He recalled, MTV called me to perform at a show in Ikeja.
They did the poster and everything. I showed up, waited backstage for about 30 minutes, watching other people perform—even those who arrived after me. After an hour, I asked to perform and they told me, ‘You’re an OG, we want to keep you for later.
Another hour passed, and I was getting annoyed. Then Wande Coal arrived, and they said, ‘Oh, Wande Coal just came, let him perform.’ I greeted him, we spoke, and he went on stage. Then another artiste came and they let him perform too. I kept insisting, ‘Bro, I need to perform and go.’”
Eventually, JJC and his manager made their way to the stage and he took the microphone, ready to perform. However, the promoter approached and asked him to let another newly-arrived artiste perform one song first. JJC refused, insisting he’d waited long enough.
The disagreement escalated, with the promoter grabbing another microphone, handing it to the other artiste, pushing JJC’s manager aside, and playing the new act’s song.
JJC recounted, I finally got on stage, grabbed the mic, and my manager was with the DJ, ready to play my song. The promoter came up and said, ‘This artiste just arrived, let him do one song first.’
I refused, and we argued back and forth. Then the guy grabbed another mic, gave it to the other artiste, pushed my manager away, played the song, and the artiste started performing.”
Fed up, JJC dropped his microphone and walked away from the stage. Despite his team’s attempts to reassure him that it wouldn’t happen again, he decided he was done with live shows. “I dropped the mic and walked off. My managers tried to calm me, saying it wouldn’t happen again. But I told them, ‘No, I’m never performing again. At this stage in my career, I don’t need that disrespect. It wasn’t the first time, but it will definitely be the last. That was the line for me.’”
JJC Skillz was previously married to filmmaker Funke Akindele. The couple tied the knot in 2016, welcomed twins in 2018, and separated in June 2022.
