Nigerians stanning their faves aka stan culture has become quite normal over the years. It’s basically a situation where someone is extremely passionate, overzealous and devoted to someone or something – mostly a celebrity. In recent history, Nigerians have done the most for the person they’re stanning.
Yesterday on Nigerian Twitter, Mercy Eke fans went all out in ‘defending’ Mercy Eke by attacking a Twitter user they felt had insulted the BBN winner. The whole thing played out in the most interesting and scary way that we just had to ask people who stan different celebrities why they stan them and what they think about stans that take it too far with detractors.
Here’s what they said:
“I stan Asa so hard, we can’t be friends if you don’t rate her.” – Hauwa
The truth for me is that if you don’t rate or listen to Asa, we can’t be friends. She does absolutely no wrong, but when I see people complain about or criticise her music, I either report them as spam or block them – even if I wasn’t following them before. I don’t even bother getting into arguments.
I remember a long time ago when they said Asa was a lesbian and people were insulting her, I almost got into physical fights with people who tried to use that to insult her or her music, even with my church people. Another time, also a while back, I bullied one of my classmates for an entire semester because she called Asa ugly. I’m not proud of it, that’s why I just block or report people who insult her now.
“What’s not to stan about Tacha?” – Mariam
I love everything about Tacha: her confidence, her zeal to keep pushing when it looks like the whole world is always against her. I love that she cares for people. She’s a good person, so I don’t see what’s not to stan. I have friends that don’t like her, so I just avoid having conversations about her with them. A couple of people have even unfollowed me because of her, but we move.
When people slander Tacha, I naturally defend her. You won’t sit by and watch as someone insults your best friend or something you love, right? Sometimes I keep quiet, but I often defend her. Personally, I feel that the fights people get into to defend her are unnecessary. It doesn’t make sense to insult people’s families and curse them. I think people who do that need help.
“Talking trash about Mercy Eke should be a crime.” – Alexis.
I don’t think I’m overboard, if you ask me. I love Mercy Eke and knew she would win BBN from the onset. My problem though is with the people that insult her and people do that a lot. They’re very condescending and would stop at nothing to tear her down – right from BBN days. I won’t come for you if you don’t come for Mercy.
PSA: I don’t even think yesterday was ugly. Have you met Beyoncé or Tacha fans? Nigerians stanning Mercy Eke are learning work next to Beyoncé stans.
“I defended Kanye West’s MAGA madness and didn’t think Rick Ross should’ve lost his endorsements for his date rape lyrics.” – Ayo
I’m a big Kanye stan. I’ve defended and still defend his MAGA madness. He’s allowed to be MAGA if we are being honest. Everyone is allowed to have their own political ideologies. It was shocking to have the person who went “George bush hates white people” support Trump, but in politics, ole ni everybody.
I also stan Rick Ross. I didn’t think he should’ve lost endorsements or be cancelled for his date rape lyric. (It was distasteful, and I criticised the line, but coming for his endorsements was extra.) This was in 2013 I think, before cancel culture went even more mainstream. Thank God for growth sha.
But, TBH, I don’t have strength to attack someone on the internet Abeg. Let these billionaires come and take care of themselves.
“Any babe that doesn’t rate Beverly Naya is hating because they’re not as fine as she is.” – Ikenna
Funny story, I once met her at Silverbird. She asked for my name and casually asked me to go see her movie: The Perfect Picture. This was around 6:30PM – I was actually escorting my friend home. I laughed and said I would think about it. Guess who faked losing his wallet, and went back to see her movie? Ended up staying till midnight, and having to street my way home because I couldn’t get an Uber. WORTH IT. That’s how much I love her.
When girls insult Beverly – call her a bad actress or say they hate her – my first thought is that the girl is beefing her. I once told someone that she was hating on Beverly because Beverly is a fine babe and the girl isn’t. I’ve never heard a guy say they don’t rate her though. But I know that any guy who says that is talking out of his ass and hasn’t seen enough of her movies.
“When you attack Beyoncé, it’s like you’re attacking the best version of me and that’s personal.” – John
Beyoncé means a lot to me. She’s like this symbol of hope – a black woman living in a racist and patriarchal world who has climbed to the very top of her field and is creating art about and from those experiences. It’s like looking at an ideal version of me, so when you attack her it’s like you’re attacking the best version of me and that’s very personal. Most of the time, I just block and mute people who say they don’t like her or slander her.
I once hooked up with someone who said Shakira was better than Beyoncé so I left immediately and blocked him and that was it. See, I can never be friends with someone that doesn’t rate her.
There’s a cult of section Twitter that are constantly in defense mode for Beyoncé. They go too far sometimes. But I actually get it. She gets discredited because she’s black and a woman. That’s why her stans are always on the defensive.
What do you think about the stan culture in Nigeria? Do you think Nigerians stanning their faves have taken it too far or do you think that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Nigerians stanning their faves the way they do? Leave a comment and share.
