The 26-year-old Nigerian singer Teni is currently enjoying tremendous success. Self-proclaimed « vice president of the World Association of Fat Ladies », she prefers jogging to mini skirts or head caps to smooth wigs.
In this paternalistic, conservative and religious country, no one could have predicted that she would become the feminist superstar Nigeria had been waiting for so long.
Today almost the whole country is singing the lyrics to his hits « Case » or « Uyo Meyo ».
Its instagram account exceeds 1.5 million subscribers and its videos on Youtube are close to 10 million views.
Today she makes a mockery of her tomboy side, but we suspect that the path to acceptance must not have been easy in a country where, she says, « women are second-class citizens ».
This discourse close to the people is not common in the world of African music, where many singers prefer to display their private jets and diamond pendants rather than their empathy towards the plebe. And yet, against all odds, it works.
During the Gidi Fest, one of the biggest festivals of contemporary African music held each year in Lagos, thousands of spectators cheered her as she climbed four by four, in sneakers, the steps of the giant stage.