In 2012 when Iyanya’s monster hit ‘Kukere’ was reigning, the macho singer was seen as the hottest thing to come out of the African continent. Not only did he gain money and fame from the song, he also dated some of the hottest girls around including a Ghanaian actress. He held sway in the Nigerian music industry for a while but like they say, no condition is permanent.
All that while, there was a young lad, Tekno, who was behind the scene in his previous record label, Triple MG, whom no one really gave a second glance probably because of his boyish looks and lanky stature.
Fast forward to the present day and that young man, Tekno, is currently one of the hottest acts in Africa. Even though Iyanya is not doing badly himself as he has moved to one of the biggest record labels on the continent and has some hit songs to his name, it is only natural for Nigerians to compare.
When asked if he is envious of Tekno’s success, the singer simply smiled and said he had always believed Tekno whom he dubbed ‘Golden boy’ would succeed in life.
He said, “I am so happy for Tekno and his success and I am not surprised. At a point, we were all together and this is a young guy that works very hard. He worked every night and when we woke up in the morning, he would still be working. So, I am not surprised that he has finally made it. I believe this is just the beginning and there are many more things to come his way. When he came to Triple MG, he sprayed his hair gold and anytime I wanted to call him, I referred to him as golden boy. I am very happy he is doing great things. How would I be envious of somebody that Ubi Franklin and I raised from our platform? We used our platform to promote him and I cannot be envious of him; there is no need for that. People would always try to say negative things but we are very fine.”
Iyanya is known for his signature dance moves especially which include whining his waist seductively, a gesture that endears him to women. When the singer was asked whether he has stopped, he simply said that he still does that.
“I have not reduced the way I whine my waist. If you watch my shows and my new video you would realise that I have not reduced the way I whine my waist. I still entertain people especially the ladies with my sexy dance moves,” he said.
Although Tekno has a mouth-watering endorsement deal with Sony Music reported to worth about N2bn, Iyanya also has a distribution deal with American super-star, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, and he was happy to speak about it.
“I have a distribution deal with Roc Nation and VP Record and they have some of my songs that they have picked for their market. Even though the songs are for their market, they still represent Nigeria and Africa but those are the ones that they understand and can relate to,” Iyanya said.