Oh dear, is Lagos hot!
With an average daily temperature of 33 degrees Celsius for the past two weeks, nobody seems safe from the overheating; not the politicians, not the national power grid, not the banditry situation in the country, and definitely not the music industry.
Nigerian singer, Crayon, has recently taken to X (formerly Twitter) to call out the stakeholders of his many years record label, Mavin Records for mismanagement and misrepresentation of his brand as an artist. This is following the release of his first single since July 2025 and the incredibly sad death of his mother.
I personally have been a long standing fan of the singer, rooting for a wider reach for his music and for Nigerians to truly, someday, wake up to his genius – a dream that has seemed taller and taller by the day. For some reason, people almost never seem to pay him enough attention, regardless of the countless times he has proven himself as a generational talent.
I bought his stocks right from his first ever EP project, Cray Cray, that had him in flow state on songs like ‘So Fine’ and ‘Bamiloke’. I remember thinking we had another Korede Bello-type run on our hands and how much of a good investment he would turn out to be for Blow Time Entertainment and Mavin records. Yet, his career didn’t pick in the way that I had thought it would.
Many Nigerians didn’t get to know about him or his music until Mavin’s avenger-esque performance on ‘Overloading’ from 2022. He got the title “Captain Hook” from the success of that record.
It gave me hope.
Perhaps, the industry would finally wake up to Crayon’s genius.
That success was closely followed by what turned out to be his first solo hit, ‘Ijo Laba Laba’, produced by Sarz in the same 2022.
‘Alas, his moment is here!,’ so I thought. Yet again, even though the song did super well for itself, it didn’t break the ceiling for him as an artist. He didn’t get into the uber-talent conversations, it didn’t win him international recognition, it didn’t set him apart as the fan girl in me would have wanted.
Several similar non-ceiling-breaking hits later including Ngozi with Ayra Starr, Victony’s Ohema and Yo Fam! with Sarz, there are numbers to show his prowess, but not an equal regard for his brand and abilities.
The heat seems to have broken the camels back. This week has ushered us into a Crayon internet meltdown. With a 33°c daily average, it’s not far from expected.
He announced his exit from the label, and went on to name-drop Tega Oghenejobo, Don Jazzy, Rema, Mavo and a list of others.
The fan girl in me is only in wonder of all that is to come after this meltdown. What’s next for my superstar? Has improper direction and influence from Mavin been the problem? Does his exit fix this? Are we on the verge of a global Crayon greatness? What should she expect?
More than how grossly I’ve misgendered myself in this piece, I’m concerned for Crayon and what’s ahead of him, music and brand-wise. I hope it all comes together for him; for my inner fan girl’s sake.
Itty can be caught studying African pop culture, writing about it or hosting a relationship podcast. When he's not doing any of these, then he's definitely at a bar, getting mocktail.
