Eno Barony’s Faux Pas: Lessons & Repercussions

THE last time rapper, Eno Barony caused a stir and generated such massive chatter was in 2020, when she got into some lyrical war with Freda Rhymz, Sista Afia and Medikal. 

That year, she was arguably the ‘darling’ of every observer of that well-appreciated beef.

Once again, the 2021 VGMA Best Rapper of the Year is making the headlines but for the wrong reasons.

At the just-ended PRESEC Old Students Bonfire & Artistes Night, Eno made headlines when she and her dancer(s) used one of the students as ‘prop’ on stage; calling the kid on stage, blindfolding him and allowing the heavily endowed dancer to gyrate and grind and dry hump the hapless chap.

Reactions to the video that went viral were swift.

Critics’ Chagrin

The critics of Eno, mostly the ‘boy-child’ activists have descended heavily on her actions, not sparing any other person who tries to make excuses for the artiste.

The critics argue that if the tables were turned and it had happened between a male artiste and a teenage girl, the uproar and outrage would be deafening.  They are right! That male act would have been suffering immense backlash and would have been compelled to issue an apology.

They also argue that, Eno’s performance was a tacit case of a boy being sexualised, sexually objectified and inappropriately touched.  Here, they are also right!

Most critically, they also argue that in the society, girls are over-parented and women are over-policed by the same society where boys are largely poorly parented with bare minimum guidance and men are indulged and enabled to behave in atrocious and appalling ways.

Eno’s Misstep

Firstly, Eno’s stage performance with these voluptuous ladies has become jarring. She has used this same set for almost two years running with no ingenuity and improvement.

The artiste has not varied that particular set of using voluptuous ladies for such a longtime and one wonders if Eno herself, won’t find it dreary if she consumes the same meal for just a week. Come on!

The reason the artiste failed to read the room, to do her checks to figure out the kind of audience she was performing to, was because, she has used the same model for such a longtime, she reckoned it was just another day, another performance and same status quo.

Also, ideally, her management was supposed to go out there and do the due diligence in figuring out the kind of audience, what playlist to offer patrons and what kind of performance to deliver. The question is; has she got such a team in place? If she has, then clearly, they failed the artiste.

In Other Jurisdictions…

Candidly, Eno is quite fortunate such situations transpired in Ghana, where critics yelp and yap for a day and then move on to the next trending issue to munch on. The culpable entertainers move on with their business as usual.

In other jurisdictions, the backlash for such occurrences is heavy; to the point where lawsuits are filed to where deals worth millions are lost.

In 2007, Akon came under a wave of castigation for inviting an under-age fan on stage and proceeding to dry hump her on stage. He eventually lost deals worth millions and was compelled to offer an official apology plus an apology song.

In 2019, a video has surfaced of Drake kissing a 17-year-old girl in Denver, Colorado in May 2010. In the clip, the Canadian rapper invites the girl on stage during his performance at the Ogden Theater, dances with her, kisses her neck, comments on her shampoo, then pulls her shirt down at the back of the neck to kiss her again. The criticism that ensued took a toll.

In 2022, a number of videos showing Nelly previously singing inappropriately to underage girls on stage have resurfaced. Outrage, backlash and questioning have consequently ensued on social media. In the clips, the Texas native intimately sings to underage girls on the stage with him. In one, the Country Grammar artist is seen performing his 2004 track Over and Over near the child’s face.

Let’s Do Better

The artiste and her team are not the only culpable figures in that fiasco that happened last weekend.

The PRESEC Old Boys Association or whichever unit that organised the event also failed. These artistes were coming to perform to teenagers, predominantly, so, it was imperative for the organisers to run through the respective set of all the artistes for approval or rejection.

These artistes did not perform for free, so, it was important the Association approved of material that would not affect the patrons—the schoolboys.

It’s been days after the incident, yet, there’s no word from the school, no word from the Old Students’ Association and no word from the artiste. The reason is simple; nobody is holding anybody accountable for their actions in this industry and in the country.

Let’s do better!