Simi The public wants a different singer than the 'simple' good girl

Simi has a big decision to make on her career. And it's more than her beautiful music.

Simi is a great singer. That’s exactly why she is at the level that she is right now. When the conversations about music and the stars that are defining our sounds are brought up, Simi’s name is one of the first in the bag.

And it’s no fluke. Ever since she rebranded her music and got signed to X3M music, she has been on a steady trajectory of growth. Each new music links to something more special in her art, and unveils that potential that she has one of the only females who would make alternative music with a difference.

Who would make alternative music in a way that it knocks off all the other radio-template songs, and become one of the biggest out there. She has done this successfully. Jamb Question, Tiff, Love Don’t Care, her collaborations with Falz and many more have grown not just her music, but her celebrity to the height that it now enjoys.

The money too has been good. In three years, Simi, under the guidance of X3M Music, has moved from being an artiste who performed for free, to being a commander of lofty performance and appearance fees. Her artistry has gathered her wealth, and she enjoys all of it.

Look at the fanbase. Simi has a growing crowd of supporters who bring good feedback on her music, dore her every word, linger on her tweets, photos and Snapchat stories. She is adored as some sort of Madonna. The Madonna of Lagos.

In perspective, all of this is a blessing. She has been blessed beyond measure by her talent, hardwork, and the team she has worked with to maximize that potential. And she continues to enjoy those blessings which has happened to her every day since she dropped ‘Tiff’.

But you know how the world works. Each blessing comes with a set of curses. In the industry, when you are blessed with an increase in your celebrity, it attracts everything. Your life no longer becomes yours. You are fair game now. The same way you sell the music, you are also selling a brand to everyone else.

For Simi, it’s more than the music.

Simi’s outing at the 2017 AfricaMagic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) was quite something on social media. A simplistic woman at heart, Simi dresses to capture that brand and sell it to the masses. But what she fails to understand is that the expectations of her by fans and enthusiasts aren’t simple. They are grand.

Simi by default is a simple girl. She just wants to play, be happy, mix and master music and sing. It doesn’t get bigger than that. There are no huge schemes from her to be more than what she wants to be. All she desires is to live life on her terms, and enjoy the success that comes from singing.

But Nigerians want more. We love the D’banj and all of his complicated finery. We love our stars when they treat fame like one big party. We love larger-than-life figures. We love it big, shiny and complicated.

Simi is not outrageously big, shiny, and complicated. She is simple, sweet, and lives next door. She is the neighborhood sweetheart that everyone protects just because she evokes paternal and sisterly emotions from them. She is everyone’s friend, sister, and daughter.

Simi treats her celebrity like an extension of herself and her art. She promotes her nerdy sound engineering skills, hangs backpacks as she walks to her studios, and celebrates the most simple things, such as laughing with friends, or kissing her siblings.

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Simi

 (instagram)

That persona can never get complicated. To complicate it is to ruin it. It is present in the playfulness of the music. It resides in the simplicity that she carries with her. It is her.

But Simi has to understand that it is more than her now. Great brands are forged by more than simplicity. The biggest stars are big because they keep the brand complicated. Nigerians, in their hearts, want the same thing for Simi.

They want to make a diva out of her. Not some simple woman. They don’t want a friend and sister that can hug them at night. They crave for an expensive star.

It’s up to Simi right now to decide if she would oblige their requests. It’s up to her to either stay on this lane, and use her originality to change the minds and hearts of the public. Or she buckles under the pressure and switches things up.

Whichever way, it’s more than just the music. And Simi has a big decision to make.

Courtesy of Pulse.ng