The recent pregnancy saga involving hip-hop star Davido and two ladies, has again brought to the front-burner the seeming recklessness among artistes, who go about fathering babies with different women without recourse to caution. Gboyega Alaka traces the history in the Nigerian entertainment scene while also exploring factors that may be responsible.
It’s a craze that took roots from forever. Or so it seems. In the Nigerian music circle, it arguably started with their ‘grandfather’, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The Afro-beat originator got so women drunk that he brazenly got married to 27 women in one day.
While Fela’s action outraged many, he took refuge in the African culture of polygamy, which empowers a man to marry as many women as he desires, so long as he gets the women’s consent and has the wherewithal to cater for their needs – physically, materially and emotionally.
So Fela’s ‘rascality’, as many have termed it, could be excused. What one may however not discountenance would be the fact that he also may have had escapades with the women before he decided to break ‘world record’ at the time. Yes, you heard right. While there have been men who have married more than 27 women, none in history has done it in one day.
Aside Fela, a few of the musicians and entertainers of the past may also have embarked on reckless philandering, with many amassing wives and concubines and bearing scores of children in near and far flung areas.
Interestingly, the trend is not limited to Nigeria or Africa, as even monogamous Europe and America are not exempted. It is on record that celebrity actor Eddie Murphy has ten children from five women, while another American rapper, Future, has eight children from eight different women.
Surprisingly, rapper Snoop Doggy has maintained a relatively disciplined coital life, despite his lewd and raunchy lyrics and videos. He has three children with his wife, Shante; and only one child, a son, with his former high school lover.
Age of Baby Mamas
The Oxford Dictionary defines Baby Mama as “the mother of one or more of a man’s children, especially one who is not his wife or current partner.
For some reasons, the expression, Baby Mama never really crept into mainstream usage until recently. Its etymology or earliest usage could be traced to Jamaica in the ‘60s, when unmarried mothers were referred to as ‘baby-mother’ (pronounced in Creole as bebi mada); while it first appeared in the Kingston newspaper, The Daily Gleaner in 1966.
More recently, the expression metamorphosed to Baby mama and has since gained popularity among entertainers and celebrities; more because of their lifestyles of partying, sex and booze.
With the gradual boom in the Nigerian entertainment industry, especially the hip-hop music genre at the turn of the last millennium, international and global music stars and celebrities. Naturally, their fame has attracted the womenfolk like bees to nectar. The result has been numerous reckless copulations that have resulted in numerous out of wedlock babies.
The ever vibrant Nigerian media have responded accordingly, going to town with juicy stories of scandals and reckless philandering in the industry, and the resultant unplanned pregnancies and babies. And the list of artistes with baby mamas is endless, with names like Tuface, WizKid, Davido taking the front row.
Even relatively new artistes like Portable have joined the fray, creating an impression that it is a norm rather than an exception.
The Tuface era
Tuface literally led the way in the new trend among the current generation of artistes. In spite of what seemed like a steady relationship with actress Annie Macaulay, with whom he had become an item since his chartbusting African Queen album, he has been linked with several women, with at least three of them mamaring babies for him.
At the last count, Tuface has seven children; four boys and three girls from three women – Sumbo Adeoye-2, Pero Adeniyi – 3 while Annie, who later got legally married to him has two children for him; one before wedlock and the other right after they got married.
The artiste actually shocked many recently, when, in a live programme, he declared in the presence of his wife that he could not promise that he’d never cheat in the future, claiming that, “Whether you like it or not, it’s how men are wired. A man can love a woman intensely, but sometimes, his sexual urges take control.”
For years, the media sensationalised headlines with Tuface’s ‘exploits,’ while stand-up comedians feasted on him, making him the butt of their jokes until other artistes broke into limelight.
Enter Wizkid
Another artiste whose escapade has resulted in several babies from girlfriend baby mamas is Ayodeji Balogun known globally as Wizkid.
Since 2010 when he broke into the limelight, Wizkid has been linked with several women, both younger and older. At the last count, Whizzy, as his fans love to call him, has three kids from three different women.
First was Shola Ogudu, who bore him a son, Boluwatife in 2011. That affair and the resultant baby generated lots of squabbles between the two and had to be settled through a DNA test that proved the young Whizzy actually fathered the baby.
One would think that would teach the artiste some lessons in caution, but that was not to be, as he was soon caught up in another such situation, this time, with Binta Diallo, an America-based Guinean model in 2016. Again, it was a DNA test to the rescue, as the baby mama endured a year of online trolling and bullying from Wizkid’s fans who saw her as a gold-digger. The child was named Ayodeji Balogun, after his father.
Read Also: Portable marries fourth baby mama
Just a year later, the singer would again get entangled in another woman’s firm grip, this time, an older woman, Jada Pollock. Wizkid and Pollock, a brand consultant from Britain worked and dated between 2014 and 2017, and the result is Zion, a son.
Notwithstanding, the boyish looking artiste has been linked with several other women, and rumoured to have had a thing with artiste Tiwa Savage and even legendary super-model, Naomi Campbell, with whom he shared a long lasting friendship.
Davido and his numerous baby mamas
While many may think they’d seen it all with Tuface and Wizkid, it seems like David Adeleke aka Davido joined the race with a solid determination to dust every other artiste in the field.
At the last count, Davido, who burst into limelight in 2012 with his debut album, Omo Baba Olowo, has a total of five baby mamas and still counting.
Just last week, he dominated cyberspace and all social media platforms when two women came out to declare that they were each carrying his baby.
The duo, American Anita Brown and French model Ivana Bay, came out hours after each other to declare that they were carrying Davido’s babies.
Anita claimed she first met Davido in Dubai and they both dated on and off, culminating in her pregnancy. She also released online conversations as testimonies to suggest how involved they were.
Ivana on her part called out Davido hours after she heard of Anita’s declaration. She wrote: “I woke up this morning to see that I am not the only woman David got pregnant. I’m just so disappointed in this kind of man, women be careful. I’m still pregnant. So see you in less than nine months now. So tell me, how many baby mamas do you have, should we just be ready for a soccer team?”
The questions some observers have asked Ivana is if she was not aware of Davido’s marital status before giving him access, accusing her of feigning innocence.
As if that was not enough, yet another lady, a Kenyan who identified herself simply as Lillyxspade, barely a week later (a few days ago), reportedly took to the social media to reveal that she also had a three-year-old child for the singer.
She claimed she had kept a low profile because she valued her privacy and her daughter’s and only came out because of taunting that she was not recognised as Davido’s baby mama.
One could say she also saw the ongoing saga as an opportunity to announce her presence in the scheme of things.
Davido has not responded to her claim.
Before Anita and Ivana, there was Ayomide Labinjo, who bore Davido his first child, Anu, in 2014. The singer initially denied paternity of the child but a DNA test eventually confirmed he fathered the child 99.9percent. The businesswoman cum model claimed they met at a nightclub in 2013 and that the singer rejected the option of a condom before the act.
There was also Sophia Momodu, cousin to Ovation publisher and politician, Dele Momodu, who bore him Aurora Imade in 2015. The scandal that trailed the news of Sophia’s pregnancy and the argument put the publisher and the young singer on a collision course until the matter was settled amicably.
Atlanta-based Amanda also came into the scene as mother of Davido’s second daughter, Hailey Veronika. The girl is said to be Davido’s look alike.
After Amanda was Larrisa Jasmine Lorenko, the Angola-born London-based make-up artist and DJ, who bore Davido a daughter, Dawson, in March 2020. Both had been rumoured to be dating before news of her pregnancy filtered out.
Then of course, there was Chioma Rowlands, who had a baby boy, Ifeanyi, now late in 2021. Chioma could well have remained in the baby mama list but for the fact that she turned out to be the anointed one, as she and Davido in 2022 got married in a secret wedding.
Artiste keeps mute
Meanwhile, Davido has maintained a resounding silence since the latest pregnancies saga broke out, coming out only once on his Instagram page to share a track from his album, ‘Unavailable.’
That one word has been termed to mean several things, leaving each and everyone to hold onto what suits them.
While some take the silence for acquiesce, blaming Davido for his recklessness, others say he may be innocent and deliberately staying out of the controversy and waiting for it to pan out.
Davido is however reported to have once publicly said he has never asked any girl to have abortion for him on account of his philandering activities.
“At least I can confidently say I have never told any girl to have an abortion. I am not saying having a baby without marriage is good, but to me, babies are blessings.”
The whole saga almost took a new turn last Wednesday, when Anita came out to declare that Davido was dead to her, decrying the fact that she lost 10 pounds in the one week that the controversy raged.
She tweeted: “He’s dead to me. Don’t ever bring him up again/That man wants to kill me/I lost 10 pounds in a week/I don’t want nothing to do with him I’m done/I will have another father to my child I swear I will.”
In the meantime, the world waits.
Other artistes with baby mamas include:
•Timaya (real name: Inetimi Timaya Odon) has four children from three different women, namely: Barbara Fumnaya Nwokolo, Tama and Dunnie Onasanya.
•Flavour (Chinedu Okoli) has two children from two women: Anna Banner and Sandra Okagbue.
•Olamide (real name Olamide Adedeji) has two children from two women; one from his wife Aisha Adebukunmi and another from a baby mama, Maria Okarende.
•Tekno (real name Augustine Kelechi) has one child from one baby mama.
•Zlatan (Omoniyi Temidayo Raphael) has a son with baby mama, Davita Lamai.
Even controversial musician, Portable (real name Habeeb Okikiola) who only broke into limelight less than two years ago, already has five children from three women, including two from his wife, Ewatomi.
The list, like they say, is endless.
