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| Veezee and Beverly Osu |
A few years ago you could spot them easily in music videos, young women moving their sexy bodies in front of cameras, flashing lights bouncing off them as they dance to the next smash hit to come out of Nigeria.
Their faces adorned our TV screens as they played the love interest of a singer or rapper. Today we still have video vixens but what happened to the famous ones- Vezee, Beverly Osu, Bad Gyal Kelly and others? Also why aren't the new video vixens as popular as the babes from two, three years ago?
In 2012-2013 the video vixen industry in Nigeria was booming. Lots of hot and sexy young girls trooped into the music video industry in search for fame and money.
There were lots beautiful women who yearned to be in the front of the camera. They wanted to be stars.
This scenario was in stark contrast to what we had a decade ago when video vixens hardly existed.
At the top of the game was Beverly Osu who hails from Delta state.
At her peak she was one of the most sought after video vixens in the country.
Her big break came when she appeared in the music video of Ice Prince’s 2010 breakout single ‘Oleku’.
After her cameo in that video she went on to feature in other big videos such as ‘Lowkey’ by Flowssickk, ‘Damn’ by 2Shotz, ‘Alingo’ by Psquare amongst many others.
In 2013 Beverly Osu took part in Big Brother Africa: The Chase. She didn’t win the reality show but a few steamy scenes in the BBA house garnered her notoriety.
After coming back from BBA she dived into acting and is now an upcoming actress.
Veezee Baybeh was another vixen who was popular during the golden era of video vixens.
She made a mark in the industry after she appeared in Skales ‘Mukulu’ video in 2011.
Veezee followed it up with another high profile appearance in Ice Prince’s ‘Magician’ video featuring Gyptian.
At the height of her fame it was rumoured that she spent a night with Chris Brown when he came to Nigeria in 2012.
Just like Beverly Osu she transitioned into acting. Veezee who has now gone back to her full name Veezee Akpofure-Terka is now married and has a daughter.
With video credits such as Burna Boy’s ‘Like To Party’ and 2face Idibia’s ‘Ihe Neme’ in her C.V, Bad Gyal Kelly (Kelly Thompson) was a star in the video vixen industry.
At the age of 16 she started appearing in music videos and in 2012 she gave a controversial interview about her affair with then boyfriend Patrick Elis.
In the interview she said she used Patrick Elis to further her career. Now 21 years old Kelly seems to have left the music video industry. Apart from a few adverts she has been quiet.
The exit of the star video vixens maybe signified that the industry was changing. More and more sexy young ladies wanted to be vixens more than what demand can handle.
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| Cicy Cocaina |
Video vixen Cicy Laz Awanjo (Cicy Cocaina) who has been in videos such as ‘Daniella Whine’ by Patoranking, and ‘Pull Over’ by KCee featuring Wizkid says that why there aren't big name video vixens in the game during this period because of the massive influx of models.
“Now you'll see models who are willing to do it for lesser amount” says Cicy. “Directors would definitely go for the ones who are willing to collect too many competitions these days” she further says.
Cicy admits that the business isn’t financially rewarding and she is into the business for exposure.
“It's a nice experience though...I do it for the exposure” she reveals.
“It's a stepping stone to wherever or whatever you want to do in this industry. It exposes you. If you want that exposure to work for you positively, it's up to you.”
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| Unamka Marycolette |
Another video vixen Unamka Marycolette however believes that popular video vixens of a few years ago became popular when they branched off to do other things.
“Veezee for instance, I didn't know her name was Veezee until AY's crib...but I knew her face. Beverly I didn't know until BBA but of course I knew her face” she tells Pulse.
Marycolette is of the opinion that there are still popular faces in the business today. “Well it's still like that..as a vixen people can still easily spot you in videos or even in real life especially after featuring videos of A list artists” she states.
Just like many video vixens past and present, the music industry is not the end goal for Unamka Marycolette.
She is a student of the University of Lagos and is interested in acting as a career. For her being a video vixen has helped boost her confidence and acting skills.
Both Marycolette and Cicy are right. There are so many video vixens in the game right now that is hard sometimes to pick one out.
A few years ago, not that many models were in the industry and more of them stood out. For those who want to really stand out they have to juggle being a video vixen and an actress or VJ just like Beverly Osu and Veezee.
Where did the video vixens go? They are still around, a whole lot of them.
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