“Pity votes”. Because Erica rejected him. So Nigerians turned it around saying she did that bcos he’s not rich and handsome like Kidd. Fucking pity votes.”

It’s the same old story every damn time. Pity votes. Poverty card. Grass to grace. Another Efe. Pity project.

I remember the moment Laycon stepped on stage. He was the 19th housemate to come on stage and he came with quite a lot of drama; top of the list was the bulb outfits. When he said his name was Laycon, I told my husband he’d probably be one of the first housemates to leave the house.

‘Viewers will hate him. He’s simply not BBN material’.

He didn’t say anything for awhile. ‘You’d be surprised,’ he muttered.

And when he said he was a sex enthusiast, I just told myself this one is not serious jare. Then he entered the house and he stuck out like a sore thumb. I could imagine how cold he was. The reception was like snow.

After him came Nengi. And I remember tweeting ‘Ọmọ see bawdyyyy’. I remember that every single housemate that night was forgettable. I forgot their names almost as soon as they left the stage. And I remember complaining about the organizers harvesting the guys from the gym. They all had the same physical appearance- except Laycon, BrightO and TrikyTee. But still, Laycon was different. So I went on twitter again.

And there he was; trending on number 3 of my trend list. With over 400k tweets. Many were condescending. Abusive. Derogatory. It was horrible to see. Nigerians tore him apart. Well, many Nigerians. Yahoo boy, Agbero, scammer, fraudster. Even EFCC trended. The names were too many.

I felt bad. I checked his IG page. At the time, he was on 10k followers. I later learnt he was on 3k+ when he climbed on the stage.

Then Olamilekan turned the story around before the night ended.

‘What’s your spec?’ housemates asked.

‘Have sense’ was his response. And that phrase trended that night.

Then Kiddwaya asked about what he does. He said he was a rapper.

Then he freestyled. And Naija twitter went crazy. 40k IG followers by then.

Then he talked about his EP. ‘Who is Laycon’. And he said with so much pride, that he had 100k streams. The passion and fierceness behind that accomplishment. He was simply a boy who loved music.

That first night, he trended worldwide. Into the next day. And on the 3rd cay, instagram verified him. With 45k followers.

And before the end of the week, his EP entered Apple music top 10. His IG followers climbed to about 150k. Oh, and housemates could sing his top single ‘Awa Fierce’ almost word for word.

Since that day, it was only forward. He can talk about anything, and everything. Because he’s that knowledgeable. Oh, and he reads.

He turned out to be a total contrast to that man everyone saw on stage. And viewers saw it too. Fans saw it too. Everyone saw it. And people started becoming ICONS.

Erica was just another pretty face with a nice smile. Another girl in the midst of 9 others. Drawing close to Laycon illuminated her smile. People finally saw her. And when she said in the diary room that his looks were deceiving and he was smart? She also won some people over. It was never the other way round. Laycon never needed Erica to shine. He came with his own bulbs. On his outfits.

The tasks started; and Laycon never gave less than a 100%. He was never passive. And of course he never forgot music. He took every single moment he could to rap, to freestyle, to talk about his music, to be appreciative of the platform he got, to showcase his passion for music making. He never hesitated to let us know that he was human; and he’d make mistakes, learn, grow, rebrand, and take a day at a time.

My fave with no malicious bone. Self esteem the size of China

He’s not a man without flaws. When Erica happened, he was down. Could be have handled it differently? Yes. Did he do her bad? Hell no. Did he protect her despite it all? Yes!

Laycon never sold the pity or poverty story for a day. Not for a moment. That’s why he refused to talk about his mum for the wager challenge. Cos he didn’t want people to see him like that. He was grateful for what life had dished out to him. But people weren’t content with that. They didn’t understand how a boy ‘Like that’ could have so much support without it being pity; they desperately needed to tie his popularity to something. The agenda started.

It was Erica? Hell no.

Poverty story? He never played that card.

Pity party? He never said anything to make anyone pity him. If he was what they portrayed, he would have spun Erica’s outburst to his advantage. But no, Laycon remains graceful even in the midst of madness.

“He’s not even intelligent.” But he proves them wrong day by day.

He won the Revolution Plus task
Amatem task
Kuda task
Hawaii task
Tom Tom task
Airtel task
Indomie task
Patricia task
Showmax
Waw
Travel beta
Guinness smooth
Johnny Walker
Flutter wave

And have you seen this guy in the Betway Trivia games?

Nuff said; if you still think this guy owes his popularity to anyone asides himself, you need a serious brain check.

Because every single day, he blows our minds away.
That’s why we stan hard.
And that’s why he’ll win by God’s grace.

Writer: Adeniji Olajumoke Ruqayyah