Keeping it in the heart.

Don Jazzy’s largesse triggers debate

June 3, 2013 by Temitayo Famutimi 

Don Jazzy’s largesse triggers debate
| credits: File copy

Award-winning music producer, singer and songwriter, Don Jazzy, may be on his way to outshining Wizkid and his erstwhile partner at Mo’hits Records, D’Banj, on Twitter by doling out the sum of N100,000 to a fan at the weekend.

The money is meant to be a reward to the fan, whose handle is @Bmillions1, for retweeting one of Don Jazzy’s tweets.

Although Don Jazzy has about 479,045 followers on Twitter, he is currently trailing behind Wizkid (610, 743) and D’Banj ( 537, 239) on the social network.

Don Jazzy is the Chief Executive Officer, founder and resident producer of Mavin Records, a label he floated after splitting with D’ Banj. He updated his handle on Twitter at about 1.37 pm on Saturday, with a tweet containing only a single dot (.) and no other message.

Many of his followers may have classified the tweet an error, since no meaning could be attached to the post. But, two minutes after the post appeared on the social network, he wrote on his handle that @Bmillions! was the first to retweet the post and then, announced a  N100, 000 for the latter.

He stated, “You have just won yourself N100,000 for just being the first person to retweet my “•” RT @Bmillions1.”

To show that he was serious about the pronouncement, he immediately asked the lucky fan to send his bank details to him via direct messaging on the social network.

 “@Bmillions1 send a direct message of your bank details sir. God bless. I’m waiting sir,” he said.

Obvioulsy showing appreciation after receiving the money,  @Bmillions1 tweeted at 2.52pm on Saturday, “Thank you very much @DONJAZZY for the 100k. Thanks bro. God bless.”

 Don Jazzy replied, “Amen. You are welcome bro.’’

This development created a buzz on Twitter as tens of his followers went on to retweet the post with the expectation that he might decide to reward more people. Barely five minutes after he announced the reward for the supposed loyal fan, over a 100 people retweeted the dot ‘.’ post.

A fan of Don Jazzy, Tunde Gbede, stated via his handle, @iamtbabz, that he was surprised at the way many people rushed to retweet the same post they had previously ignored. “I’m laughing out loud. All of a sudden, everyone wants to start retweeting Don Jazzy’s tweets…”

When it became clear that he wasn’t going to extend the gesture to more followers, many of those who had rushed to retweet the post started begging him for money and they gave various reasons for doing so.

One of Don Jazzy’s numerous fans, who requested financial assistance from him, sent his tweets via the handle, @HRH_TIPSY. The man wrote that his wife was on the verge of giving birth, adding that he still needed money to buy diapers.

He said, “@DONJAZZY baba, abeg make I DM my account number join na. My wife go soon born. I no mind money for pampers from you.”

However, other fans of the music producer went on to confess that his kind gesture had taught them a lesson not to ignore tweets from celebrities any more.

A particular fan, named Mr. Rasaq, who also uses the account, @ItsMr_Razaq, said he would henceforth retweet every message from Don Jazzy’s Twitter account.

However, explaining the rationale behind his decision to reward the person who retweeted what many of his fans had deemed meaningless, Don Jazzy tweeted that he did it intentionally to create a sense of brotherliness among Nigerians on social media.

“A retweet doesn’t kill. Pay attention. Help people’s hustle, by retweeting links, sharing messages. You might save someone’s life. Imagine that we need to save your life and nobody retweets your tweet for help. Be your brother’s keeper,” he said.

Meanwhile, the largesse has ignited a debate among some Nigerians on social media. A school of thought argued that retweeting a mere ‘.’ posted by a celebrity could be described as a blind way of showing loyalty.

For instance, on nairaland.com, a member of the forum, with the name Vanneni argued that it was one of the most ‘stupid’ things anyone could do for a celebrity.

“I wonder why nobody has said the truth about this matter. N100, 000 or not, the guy did one of the most stupid things on earth. Why would a reasonable human being retweet nothing?, ‘’ she argued.

Disagreeing with her, Adex simply said, “Whether the guy retweeted something or nothing, is it anything to you? You keep saying the guy who retweeted did wrong by retweeting a mere dot. To me it just shows he’s a loyal fan.