Late Friday night, news of the arrest of Nigerian singer, Dammy Krane filtered through blogs and news sites. The artiste with real name, Oyindamola Johnson-Hunga had been arrested by the Miami police for credit card fraud, grand theft and other forgery-related offences.

Less than 12 hours after the news made rounds and Nigerians were still trying to wrap their heads around the unfortunate situation, a private jet company, Tapjets tweeted information that finally capped things for those who were still in doubt.

Tapjets said it would “prosecute Dammy Krane to the fullest extent”.  

The company’s tweet placed next to photos the accused singer had shared via his Instagram page in the past 11 days made up for one big story: Dammy Krane had been flaunting a fake lifestyle.

[See more: Dammy Krane practically lived on private jets days before his arrest (PHOTOS)]

We reached out to our Insiders for varied perspectives on celebrities and bogus lifestyles.

This artiste manager was of the opinion that Dammy Krane may have missed it at the point where he started likening himself to Davido who comes from a wealthy background. She said, “Dammy Krane placed undue pressure on himself, he’s not OBO or the likes, he is Dammy Krane and no one really demands an expensive lifestyle from him. As an artiste, I think you should be more concerned about showing off your work, showing off your life as a musician, showing off photos from shows and of performances, not money or gold chains. But the lesson in all of these has always been to live within your means.”

Another Insider who is a culture writer said, “celebrities like other Nigerians are a function of their environment. Just like everyone of us, they are under pressure to magnify themselves“. Although not in defense of the fake life, this insider provided a broader view to the matter. He added that, “We live in a society where having money comes before everything else and when you make that money, there’s a natural tendency to want to show it off. A typical young person wants to earn money and flaunt it and celebrities are not any different. For many of them, the goal is not exactly to influence culture with their art, they just want to make money and do better for themselves“.

For this Insider, celebrities living a fake life is a norm. The entertainment brand manager said, “The music industry has evolved but the artistes have not. Revenue streams have changed, there are new money-making models but a lot of artistes do not understand this so they resort to the most demeaning means of making cash. Some are currently even into gambling and it is disappointing. As for Dammy Krane, he can’t be trying to live the Davido or Wizkid lifestyle. There are loads of artistes who make money but know not show off. Why does Dammy Krane need a private jet to travel?. It’s unfortunate he got himself into this“.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the members of YNaija’s Pop Culture Insiders, not all of whom participated in this week’s survey: 

Bizzle Osikoya (Bee Entertainment), Jim Donnett (TooXclusive), Ehiz (MTVBase), Timini Egbuson (Actor), Bayo Omisore (Platonique PR), Jide Taiwo (NET), Ayodeji Rotinwa (ThisDay), Edwin Okolo, Sensei Uche (City FM), Joey Akan (PulseNG), Timilehin Bello (Media Panache), Edward Israel (Chocolate City), Uche Briggs, Oreoluwa Peters (Doble Seis Entertainment), Ubi Franklin (TripleMG), Eromo Egbejule (The Guardian), Freeze (Cool FM), Godwin Tom (Godwin Tom Company), Asa Asika, Dotun Kayode (Cool FM), Femisoro Ajayi (BahdGuys Entertainment), Lekan Olanrewaju (Mnet), Latasha Ngwube (AboutThatCurvyLife), Funke Babs-Kufeji (ThisDay), Isioma Osaje (Agency 106), Jola Sotubo (PulseNG), Tosyn Bucknor (Top Radio), Tosin Ajibade (Olorisupergal), Ifeoma Areh (WildFlowerPR), Foladele Falana (TV Continental)