By Talented and versatile, Nigerian singer, Oluwatobiloba Daniel Anidugbe professionally known as Kizz Daniel is certainly a household name in the music industry. Since his breakout into fame with his critically acclaimed debut single ‘Woju’, the Ogun State indigene has cemented his place in the Nigerian entertainment space — thanks to his many chart-topping singles and highly successful studio projects.
But, despite enjoying overwhelming accolades from music lovers, Kizz Daniel keeps getting entangled in one drama or another, and ends up making headlines for the wrong reasons. He might have no bad songs, but it appears he keeps crowning this with constant controversies.
In this piece, BlackBox Nigeria highlights the several times Kizz Daniel has been trapped in a web of controversies.
Age controversy
In 2016, the singer drew attention to himself over his age. In an interview granted to The PUNCH, he had claimed he graduated from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta at the age of 18 after studying a five-year course. His claims generated a buzz on social media, as many wondered if he wrote JAMB when he was 13 — an impossible age for anyone to gain admission into a public tertiary institution in Nigeria.
Following backlash, the singer was said to have edited his Wikipedia page and included his actual date of birth.
Rift with Emperor Geezy/label exit/change of name
Record labels and signees’ fallouts over contracts have become a regular feature of the Nigerian music industry, and Kizz Daniel (then performing as Kiss Daniel) had a fair share of the drama. After a messy disagreement over who gets the larger share of the proceeds from his craft, the singer announced in 2017 that he was parting ways with his then-record label, G-Worldwide owned by Emperor Geezy.
But of course, it wasn’t an easy decision to make as he had to change his stage name to Kizz Daniel since the label had trademarked ‘Kiss Daniel’. He would go on to start his own Flyboy Entertainment Inc where he is the frontline act.
Refused to perform at Babcock University after being paid
In 2018, the ‘Laye’ hitmaker landed in trouble with students of Babcock University, after he failed to perform at the institution’s annual ‘Freshers Night’. He was paid over N3m to perform, but he reportedly showed up at the university after the event had been concluded, without informing the organisers of the event.
In his defence, the singer had claimed his Mercedes Benz G-Wagon vehicle had a flat tire on his way to the university. But the excuse wasn’t enough to pacify the angry students who were said to have confronted him and demanded a refund.
Late appearance at US concert
Last month, Kizz Daniel became a trending topic on social media following his late arrival at his concert in New York, United States.
The singer came under fire after he reportedly kept his fans waiting at the venue for five hours without showing up. In the videos which surfaced online, aggrieved fans were seen throwing things on stage, while demanding a refund.
However, in a statement published on his Instagram page, the ‘Buga’ crooner said his passport was seized at the US Consulate in Nigeria till the day of the show due to some reasons.
Seized laundry company’s bus
In the first week of August, Kizz Daniel was reportedly invited for questioning by the Lagos State Police Command after he ‘seized’ a bus belonging to a dry cleaning company, Laundromat.
It all started when the singer accused the company of damaging his clothes said to be worth N14 million. He thereafter confiscated the firm’s bus, which led to the matter being reported to the police. The impounded bus was later recovered by the company.
Failure to appear at Tanzanian concert/eventual arrest
Days later, Kizz Daniel again met himself in the eye of the storm over his failure to perform at the Summer Amplified Concert in Tanzania. Angered by his absence, fans had thrashed the concert venue. The organisers of the paid concert also got the singer arrested.
The show promoter, Steven Uwa had also carpeted Kizz Daniel for giving a flimsy reason despite being paid $60,000 for the performance.
But in a press conference, the award-winning musician cleared the air over the matter, and said his absence wasn’t intentional but caused by flight troubles. As promised, he later staged a free show for fans.
Returned to his smoking habit
Months after he parted aways with the habit, Kizz Daniel revived his abandoned love for smoking. On his 28th birthday, in May, the singer had announced that he ditched his smoking habit for the sake of his children.
But in a video he shared on his InstaStory on August 13, Kizz Daniel could be seen holding a cigarette and smoking it. “Ko easy mehn,” he had captioned the video.
Whilst Kizz Daniel will no doubt continue to enjoy international recognition for his talent, many wonder if his seemingly intractable relationship with controversies won’t affect his career in the long run. Time, like they say, will tell.
