We all know how difficult it is to get a breakthrough in Nigeria’s music industry and the entertainment space generally.

We had come to believe that if one ever wants to make it big, one needs to know the big guns, movers and shakers of the industry and has to be signed under the foremost labels before one can even gather a little audience.

We almost totally forget about the place of talent and passion as a drive.

I believe Teni Makanaki came to remind us that talent still sells. It just has to be directed into the right art, in the right market and at the right time.

Teniola Apata (popularly known as Teni the Entertainer) stole the hearts of Nigerians in 2018 with her ‘Case’ which has remained a jam of popular demand at parties and functions up till today. It is still a thing of shock to many how she just came into the music scene, dropped hit songs and became a star.

Not too long after ‘Case’, she dropped ‘Pray’ with Phyno and Osadolor, who owns Dr. Dolor Entertainment, under which she is signed. Pray became a hit even before the song dropped.

Their in-house producer at Dr. Dolor Entertainment, JaySynthz, also made good name for himself from that song, ‘Pray’.

And then her biggest hit so far has been ‘Uyo Meyo’ which is more or less a household anthem.

It wasn’t too difficult for the public to vote her over Perruzi for the Headies’ ‘Rookie of the Year Award’.

Ever since, every song that has her voice in it has been a hit. And what is not really clear is how she just came and took over the scene. What wand does she wave that other musicians do not have access to?

Not to spur any trouble, but I think DJ Cuppy needs such a wand at the moment – a wand to steal our hearts too, like Teni. And that wand, no doubt, is the artiste’s deep talent.