Culture

Nigerian Afrobeat star Davido launches own crypto coin $Davido

Published

1 month ago

May 30, 2024

Nigerian Afrobeats singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido in the music circle, has launched his cryptocurrency meme coin, $Davido.

The coin which was launched on Wednesday is currently priced at $0.007783 USD and has quickly gained popularity, according to industry watchers.

The launch of $Davido, will mark Davido’s third go-around in crypto after he had earlier backed and promoted “Timeless Davido” crypto token with the release of his globally acclaimed album last year.

The $Davido coin was launched on the Solana blockchain and immediately broke through the noise of other obscure crypto tokens.

The platform which welcomed the rollout of the coin said on X:

“Solana just ships. Welcome Davido,” as the $Davido raced to a $10 million market capitalisation four hours after its launch and by Thursday, had continued to soar with several celebrities endorsing the coin.

However, the excitement on the $Davido was short-lived as its valuation had dipped 90 and per DEX screener, the coin’s liquidity was $291,000 at the time of this report.

But other reports indicate that the American-born superstar had already cashed out with massive profits from the newly created meme coin.

According to Lookonchain, Davido created the token on May 29 using the popular memecoin launchpad Pump.fun. The singer received 7.5 SOL ($1,275) as start-up capital and spent 7 SOL ($1,190) to buy 203 million DAVIDO (20.3% of the total supply, and barely 11 hours after creating the meme coin and promoting it on his X social account, the singer had gained 15.3 million followers while offloading 121.88 million and generating about $474,400 from the sale.

This was not the “Unavailable” crooner’s first crypto rodeo. In November 2021, he had launched $echoke on the Binance Smart Chain which he said was to “provide access to giveaways, NFTs, festivals, exclusive merchandise, and other entertainment, media, and hospitality benefits.”

He also promoted Racksterli, a Ponzi scheme that allegedly defrauded users of ₦1 billion, on YouTube, prompting serious backlash from Nigerians.

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Culture

Tems, Tyla bag 2024 BET Awards

Published

10 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Nigerian and South African female singers, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, and Tyla Laura Seethal, simply known as Tyla, once again, made the continent proud when they bagged different gongs at the BET Awards held at the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on Monday.

It was Tems’ fourth and she did it in grand style by edging out top stars like Kirk Franklin, CeCe Winans, Maverick City Music, and others to win the Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award with her 2023 song, “Me & U” at the 2024 ceremony.

Tems had earlier won two BET Awards in 2022 for Best International Act and Best Collaboration for Wizkid’s “Essence”.

In the 2023 edition, Tems also won the Best Collaboration award for her song with Drake and Future “Wait for U”.

South Africa’s “Ampioano” star, Tyla, however, took home two awards for Best New Artist and Best International Act.

The BET Awards, established in 2001 by Black Entertainment Television, is an American award show that recognises and celebrates the achievements of Black entertainers and other underrepresented groups in music, film, sports and philanthropy.

Culture

Egyptian movie Smokey Eyes to compete at 5th Amman Int’l Film Festival

Published

2 days ago

June 30, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Egyptian thriller, “Smokey Eyes”, is set to compete at the 5th Amman International Film Festival which will hold in Jordan from July 3rd to 11th.

“Smokey Eyes”, which was directed by one of Egypt’s top directors, Ali Ali, will feature in the Arab Short Films Competition which will be a tough fight for movies in the MENA region.

“Smokey Eyes” which already had its world premiere at the Red Sea International Film Festival, is a story that delves into the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian uprising, addressing social issues such as police brutality, religious tensions, and restricted freedoms for women.

The thriller also marks the acting debut of Egyptian rapper, Marwan Moussa, and follows the character Nour, whose planned date night in Cairo is disrupted by unforeseen events.

“Smokey Eyes” also stars Malak Bazid, Marwan Moussa, Hassan Abouelrouss, Nourine Abouseada and Mohamed Aboughali.

Directed by Ali and written by Nancy Ali, it features cinematography by Pierre Mouarkech and editing by Nada Zag and was produced by Khaled Zaki of Good People Films produced the film, with a soundtrack composed by Sary Hany.

Ali Ali is probably Egypt’s number one film director and co-founder of Good People Films who transitioned from being a computer engineer to pursuing his passion for storytelling through film.

He made his directorial debut in advertising with the popular NEVER SAY NO TO PANDA ad, which amassed 100m YouTube views and earned him the prestigious Gold Lion Award at Cannes.

Throughout his career, Ali has garnered numerous accolades, including four coveted Yellow Pencils in Direction from London’s D&AD and over eight Gold Lions from Cannes.

He has also served as the President of the Direction Jury at London’s D&AD Awards in 2020, a member of the Film Jury at Cannes Lions International Festival in 2023, and has been recognized as one of the Ten Most Influential Advertising Directors in the World Today by Adweek and the Gunn Report.