South African based Ghanaian rapper and TV host Kwaku Tutu popularly known as Kwaku T has said the African version of the 2007 Big Brother reality game show became a blessing and curse on his life.
Big Brother is a reality game show franchise created by John de Mol, originally broadcast in the Netherlands and subsequently syndicated internationally.
In the show, contestants called “housemates” live together in a specially-constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. Housemates are voted out (usually on a weekly basis) until only one remains and wins the ultimate cash prize.
But the Ghanaian rapper speaking on ‘Daybreak Hitz’ on Hitz FM disclosed the reality television showered him blessings and curses simultaneously.
According to him, it rendered him the massive recognition he needed internationally since he was a musician and only Ghanaians were aware of his works.
The show, he added, opened the Pandora’s Box for him because there were limited media stations in Ghana that could project his music career at par with the fame the show offered him.
Describing how the reality program cursed his life, he revealed apart from the winner who bags the ultimate cash prize home, the rest of the house mates were given nothing to appreciate their participation in the contest.
The ‘Move’ hit maker further maintained that, the reality show hindered most financial opportunities of investors since they perceived him to be rich, meanwhile it wasn’t so.
“I think it’s a gift and a curse. The blessing is it gave me the recognition. It opened the Pandora’s Box for me. Africans knew me. When I started making music there was only one radio station. That was GBC and I think Joy FM only. Strangely in my experience Big brother gave me the leverage to touch Africa…”
“The curse part is that you don’t win the money and when you don’t win there is no money given at all. But people think you become rich by attending. When people want to invest they think you already got the money…”
“As a business man you have to do the cost and benefit in what you want to do. And people don’t want to work with you when they think you had money and you never saved it. I am always rich, I had money but at a time it had not manifested into what it is…” he explained.
