Kiss Daniel: Yeba did not promote ‘sexual assault’, but it left itself open to criticism

While Kiss Daniel is not guilty of perpetrating the culture of sexual assault, Nigerian singers now have to step up and help deal with this menace.

Life in the Nigerian music industry is fickle; one moment you are having a ball and turning up the club. And when you go home to relax and give yourself a treat for a club well-turnt, you see yourself in the news as a villain.

That’s the story of Kiss Daniel’s ‘Yeba’. The song came through in September 2017. By December, it was one of the biggest songs of the holiday celebrations. By January, it started getting criticism from a section of Nigerians arguing that it promoted sexual assault.

Why?

'Yeba' is under scrutiny because of the inclusion of a little part of the record. Kiss Daniel had inserted a little skit mid-song, where a young woman can be heard saying, “Uncle please stop touching.” The offending man quickly apologized, “Sorry madam.”

A Twitter user with the name Maryam Laushi, wrote: “Honestly I shudder whenever I hear the ‘Uncle stop touching’ bit. I thought I was the only one. Very molestey and rapey. And counter consent. Already dealing with such issues in our society, we don’t need Nigerian pop culture promoting it in that way.”

And that was the start of it. The tweet found company with other women and men who joined to show outrage. So loud was the outrage that Kiss Daniel had to clarify the meaning of it all.

“D song teaches our ladies to speak out against wat they haven't consented 2 nd 4 d men to realise dat if a lady says No, No means No. Apologise nd don't go further, hence d  reply by d guy..."sorry madam" D fact dat a lady agrees 2 dance wit u doesn't translate 2 sexual consent,” he wrote on Twitter.

There are a couple of reasons why the ‘shudderers’ (as Twitter calls them) have a point. Kiss Daniel’s record chose to deal with something so sensitive and serious with a humorous twist. Sexual assault has plagued women all over the world for as long as the world has existed. In Somaliland, a bill just past for the first time in the nation’s history outlawing rape. This happened in January 2018!

 

In Nigeria here, sexual assault, rape, sexual violence is a menace. Everyday there are heartbreaking stories of women being molested, raped and assaulted every day, in every corner of the country. Nationwide, the legislature and judiciary aren’t doing enough to combat the crime or enact laws to better protect women.

Sexual assault, harassment and molestation are raw topics in everyday discussion of Nigerian women. You could say Kiss Daniel’s now skit hit a sore point.

Kiss Daniel however how ‘light’ it seemed, addressed it in his record. The video by Clarence Peters went further than the song. In the visual, the scene plays out in a party where a man got too handsy with a lady who allowed him dance with her. What resulted was a slap which threw him off his feet and onto the floor. It was pure comical, but it did pass a message for women not to tolerate such men. The message being, groping a woman without her consent will get you slapped or worse.

All these seem positive but critics of the song have refused to budge on their initial interpretation of that line. ‘Yeba’ does not promote sexual harassment. This isn’t the message of the song. It’s about partying and fun. And tucked in the song is a subtle lesson on sexual harassment.

 

In this fight against sexual assault, Kiss Daniel is a friend. His record ‘Yeba’ might not have gone all out in pushing for societal reforms and changes, neither was it created with the purpose of activism. But when you pass it through scrutiny, it does serve as a lighter and smaller supporter of the cause.

But why is this happening now? The answer is simply this- women (especially Nigerian women) have started to protest (no matter how little) against the culture of sexual harassment. Do not forget this is the #MeToo era where every single content we consume is scrutinized.

There’s a larger opportunity for a lesson to be learned here. The ‘shudderers’ have highlighted a very important lesson for creatives in the music industry. Songwriters, A&Rs, singers, performers, and everyone in the creation chain of music need to be conscious of what they put in their records.

While creating records, they should be focused on the pursuit of getting people entertained. If they decide to deal with a sensitive topic and pass across a message in their records, it should be done with clarity, emphasis and a genuine desire to be a voice. That way, there motives and actions would be in sync, leaving no space for confusion or misinterpretation.

The presence and fight of these ladies are genuine, and we all must play a role in the eradication of gender-based violence and sexual assault. While Kiss Daniel is not guilty of perpetrating the culture of sexual assault, Nigerian singers now have to step up and help deal with this menace.