Being able to sing and act is not easy. While actors trying their hands at music haven’t always worked out well, some musicians have successfully convinced us that they might be a double threat. Here are some musicians whose acting sort of worked out for us.
Toni Tones
If there’s one thing you should know about Ms. Tones, is that this woman has done it all. If this list focused on photographers turned musicians turned actors, she’d also come out tops. While Tones’ acting career might have started out shaky with supporting roles on shows like Rumour Has It and the film, It’s Her Day. Her chilling turn in Kemi Adetiba’s King of Boys (KOB) as young Eniola Salami had us shook to the core. Even though most of you aired her recent EP. She has become a fixture on Netflix thanks to other projects like Smart Money Woman and The King of Boys series.
Falz
When Falz asked, “Which musician do you know is having AMVCA?” on his 2016 hit song Bad, Baddo, Baddest, he had just won said award for his role on the wildly popular Jenifa Diaries. Now, five years later, the rapper has become one of the hottest commodities in Nollywood, scoring bags left, right and centre with roles in New Money, Quam’s Money and the overcrowded Chief Daddy. We are still holding out hope that the self-proclaimed leader of the Sweet Boys Association will take on more challenging roles that differ from his alter ego. But for now, we’ll take the laughs.
Banky W
Mr. Capable made a grand entry into Nollywood in one of the highest-grossing Nigerian films of all time, The Wedding Party. Starting out as a leading man is not beans at all, but Banky managed to pull it off. Since his debut, he has played everything from an NYSC student in Tope Oshin’s Up North to a juju-bullet-proof mafia lord in Kayode Kasum’s Sugar Rush. Talk about range! Fun fact: All of Banky’s films have either been directed or produced by women.
Seyi Shay
Almost a decade after breaking into the scene with Loving Your Way, we are all still doing our best to figure out Seyi Shay and her sound. So far, she has lived different sonic lives – some worked out, others, not so much. When the trailer for Biola Alabi’s Lara and the Beat dropped, we weren’t sure what to expect with Seyi Shay leading a cast boasting of talents like Somkele Inyamah and Deyemi Okanlawon, but in the end, we were pleasantly surprised. Maybe playing the role of a singer in a musical made it easier for her to shine, but the truth is, while her acting was a little bit off, we couldn’t take our eyes off the singer each time she came on screen. She held our attention throughout and not many Nollywood actors have this going for them.
Reminisce
We’ve all grown to love Reminisce as one of the hardest rappers in the game. But nothing prepared us for his role as Makanaki in Kemi Adetiba’s King of Boys. After dropping mad singles like Ka Ko Bi Chicken for the streets, he wowed us with his performance as the ruthless gang leader and we’ve been hooked since then.
