Popular Nigerian comedian and radio personality, Iruvee Okeremute Don, aka De-Don, is unhappy about how some of his compatriots treat him in the comedy industry.
The comedian expressed shocked as to how he has been sidelined by Nigerians who seem to appreciate the work of fake people at the expense of entertainers with genuine talent.
He revealed how Ali Baba, Basketmoutg and Basorge Tariah Jnr helped him to carve a niche for himself.
“It is unfortunate that in our society, real people are not being recognized. I’m not trying to sound rude, but I am not the type that knows how to make noise in the media. I like things happening naturally. I don’t live a fake life. Whatever I can’t afford, I don’t pretend to be in charge of it,” He told Naij.com in an interview.
“I’m not the type that will go and spend two nights in Eko Hotel when I have just N200, 000 in my account. I don’t lobby, and I believe that my talent and carriage should be able to take me to wherever I want to when the time comes. So I don’t do fake hype.”
He added: “When I first came into the industry, I had a couple of comedians calling me for events, but I realized that very few of them actually want my growth. There are three people that really helped my brand to grow. They are Basketmouth, Ali Baba and the biggest of them, Basorge Tariah Junior who actually taught me how to impress big brands, how to anchor A-class events and be on their pay roll.”
“Basorge was one man that really believed in me. Ali Baba saw the talent and said ‘young man, you are too talented to be trekking’ then he gave me a car and also introduced me to some big companies. When Basketmouth saw me, he realized that I was very funny, so he introduced me to about three other comedians.
“But one thing about Basketmouth is that no matter how close you are to him, if he meets another person that is funnier than you, he might just keep you aside and handle that fellow. For you to be with Basketmouth, you must be very funny at all time, nobody must be funnier than you,” De-Don gushed.