Nigerian rapper Falz up for another AMVCA award

The list of nominees for the 2018 edition was announced on June 30 by Nigerian comedian Bovi and Ghanaian actress Joselyn Dumas. The ceremony is scheduled for 1 September.

In 2016, Falz, whose real name is Folarin Falana, won the award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. This time he is up for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the comedy picture New Money, where he plays the love interest to the film’s protagonist. The nominees in the category include well-known actors such as Wale Ojo, Saidi Balogun and Gabriel Afolayan.

News of the nomination has come weeks after Falz made headlines across the country and beyond for his adaptation of Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’. Falz’s version, ‘This Is Nigeria’, received both praise and condemnation.

Some found his presentation of the ills of his country as a refreshing departure from the material excesses of his pop music peers. Others found it a shallow version of a superior work. It garnered unwanted attention when a Muslim group threatened to sue the artist for a presumed offence against their religion. A representative from Falz’s team said the artist was unfazed and declined to take down the video from YouTube. The group later backed down.

Long known as a funny man, Falz has been asked a number of times about his work as comedian and rapper. He has said he doesn’t quite view his career as his interlocutors do. “My brand,” he said in the past, “is that of an all-round entertainer. I’m an artist, a musician primarily but an entertainer as a whole. People often miss it.”

Perhaps to show just how much the acting part of his career as an entertainer means to him, Falz mentioned his win on ‘Bahd, Baddo, Baddest’, his 2016 single featuring Olamide and Davido. “Which musician do you know is having AMVCA?” he asked.