Bigiano: How the Shayo master became a comeback novice
After entering the limelight in 2008, series of issues combined to ensure Bigiano would struggle to sustain music stardom and eventually become a one-hit-wonder to critics.
Across the temporal length and breadth of the Nigerian music industry, only one person comes to mind when the moniker Shayo master – Bigiano.
Born Gbenga Gabriel Babalola, the artiste famous as Bigiano hit the limelight in 2008 with the hit song, Shayo. The song ruled the airwaves in every sense and no party atmosphere then was simply the same with Shayo. Till now, the song would still garner a lot of attention and bring back a lot of memories for party rockers.
The Peak Years
The peak undoubtedly came for Bigiano between 2008 and 2010. He followed his hit single with an eponymous 15-track album, Shayo master, after his popular nick. Some other songs such as Iwofa lenu – on which Dagrin was featured, One and only, True story also got a lot of playtime from fans and could be classified as hits. But none came close to Shayo.
In his own words, “university dem dey shout Bigiano, polytechnics don dey hala Bigiano, London people dem dey find Bigiano, America and Jamaica…”
He certainly was the darling at every show during that time and he was tipped by many to have a lasting career, especially with such instant bubbling fame.
But where did it all go wrong?
Bigiano himself claimed that “I decided to take a little break to re-brand myself. When the fame of Shayo came, I couldn’t handle it. I deliberately made the decision to go off the scene in 2011 to re-position my brand.”
Critics, however, saw things from a different light. Some opined that he was simply a one-album wonder who couldn’t sustain the limelight he was thrust into.
His former partners on the Triple B group, Peter and Paul Martins, in an interview with Vanguard in 2010 disclosed that the Bigiano they knew didn’t disappoint them by not staying long in the limelight.
“Where is Bigiano today? I’m not mocking him. It’s not about making a single hit. It’s about consistency…
“We were happy about it but we knew it was not going to last because we know who Bigiano is. He is talented but couldn’t it (fame). Back then when we went for shows as a group, he was easily carried away by little things. We were sure he wouldn’t last,” Martins further stated.
Bigiano further claimed that he wanted to make a comeback into the industry but he was duped on several fronts. From an Alaba marketer claiming digital royalties on his music to being duped of millions of naira meant for publicity, and 8-million-naira plots of land, everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong in the process of making a comeback into the industry between 2015 and 2016.
Status quo
Speaking on Jahbless’ Original Intelligence podcast, the Shayo master claimed that he is into business and investment, appearing to be living a good life outside music – a privilege many who have fallen off the music radar do not enjoy.
On August 1, 2021, his birthday, he launched a magazine, Connect Core, together with Ade Ladehinde, an actor and presenter, with the publication set to document the lives of celebrities.
On the prospect of reactivating his music career, Bigiano expressed that he’s now a changed man, and the only kind of music he would consider doing is inspirational and gospel. He further told Jahbless that he lives for no validation again and his intent is to “lead the shayo street to Christ.”