C-R-A-S-H-H-H
Ashionye, lover, Carl break up
By SAMUEL OLATUNJI
Sunday,
April 20, 2008
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•Ashionye
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Ashionye has always given the impression of a powerful 21st
century woman. The vigour with which she sings her hit track
- Dance for me - and the way she led six other girls in the
much publicised ‘Girl Power Unleashed’ revolution
seem to lend credence to that impression. But she appeared
not to be ‘powerful’ enough, as it were, to admit
that her romance with Carl Raccah, the white boss of Oragootan
Music label, has crashed.
Funny enough, while Carl’s camp claims that the much-publicised
altar-bound relationship has crashed, Ashionye, however, insists
that everything was okay. Besides, Carl says we should perish
the thought about him heading for the altar with the Naija
singer.
When we got the hint that the relationship had crashed, we
waved it aside because the two had demonstrated unwavering
commitment to each other despite public accusation, especially
KP and Juliet, ex-members of the defunct Emete Group, who
alleged that the group came to inglorious end because Carl
was giving Ashionye preferential treatment because they were
dating as at the time. Ashinoye and Carl, expectedly, denied
the accusation.
Later on, Ashionye admitted they were more than friends. She
told True Love Magazine in an interview that both of them
were actually dating. And Carl made pregnant statements suggesting
that the two were actually more than an item.
With that public confession by Ashionye, the entertainment
industry was led to believe that marriage was on the card.
Therefore, it was not surprising when it was being speculated
that they were getting married.
The first sign that the rumour had no weight and that the
relationship might have suffered a setback was when Sunday
Sun attempted to tie up an interview appointment with Ashionye
through the company.
We were told courteously to leave that for now, as the company
is embarking on a re-engineering process. They prefer being
projected as a corporate entity, rather than any individual
artiste.
To outsiders, that appears normal. But as industry watchers,
Ashionye’s clout at Oragootan had been comparable to
the CEO himself.
At any given time, her RAV 4 is always parked conveniently
in the compound. The bucks seems to stop at her desk, after
the CEO, Carl Raccah.
But on this particular day when Sunday Sun visited the company’s
premises, her car was ‘missing in action’, a clear
sign that all was not well. That would be the first time in
about four years that Ashionye’s car would not be at
its usual parking lot.
After the scheduled interview with Carl, Sunday Sun asked
about the rumoured marriage plans between him and Ashionye,
whom many have referred to as Beyonce of Nigerian music industry.
Hear him: “Well, the truth of the matter is, I hate
to say it, that won’t be happening. We are still very
good friends and great working partners.”
Carl went on to say that Ashionye deserves her full respect
because many people have been erroneously crediting him for
her rise. “The truth of the matter is everyone thinks
Ashionye is Ashionye because of my relationship with her.
This is a misinterpretation because Ashionye is truly a super
star. She only has to walk into the room and you feel the
aura, all I have ever done is open doors. I cannot do it for
them.
Ashionye is hot property that is why we push Ashionye. Let
me just tell you, I had a meeting with Sony BMG in the UK,
I played 10 seconds of one of her tracks and I was told ‘let’s
talk business’. She is a sellable commodity, I didn’t
do that for her, God did that for her and she is doing it
for herself. So, I hope that from this moment on people give
her the respect that she deserves. All I do is what I do for
all my artistes.
I have never prioritised Ashionye. But people assume, I was
at Pepsi making a presentation about something entirely different
and going through photographs and the marketing manager of
Pepsi saw that and stopped the meeting and said, ‘this
is the girl for Pepsi Light’, there were another girls
on that photographs but in the middle of that meeting he choose
Ashionye. We had to arrange a meeting to meet her and he saw
that she was eloquent, bright and intelligent and she got
the deal. I didn’t go there and say this is Ashionye,
I have interest in her, please give her the deal.’ He
went on, “for me she is a fantastic artiste that deserves
all the best.”
All through, the part he spoke about the break-up his hands
were shaking and his eyes appeared misty. If it was meant
to be a drama, Carl would be a great actor but from what is
known of him in he past years, Carl isn’t having a ball
in the relationship. It has hit the rock!
A source in the know insists Carl is just trying to be gracious,
an aftermath of the break up. She said, “they’ve
both moved on and it is a pity that the whole thing came to
an end but anyway, anything can happen later in the future.”
Joe, the manager of Orangootan who usually acts as go-between
for the company and the media, gave this diplomatic answer:
‘Sam, I don’t like meddling into people’s
private lives. I will appreciate you speak with both of them.”
Called up for an insight, Ashionye sounded surprised. “Samuel’,
she said, in her trademark phonetic assent, “this is
the first time I am hearing this.” She went further:
“That was how they went to town with news that Dakore
had broken up with Olumide Akande but the two of them were
together at Hip Hop Award. That story is not true.”
But confronted her with Carl’s admission that marriage
would not be happening again, she responded thus: “You
can’t blame the poor guy, everybody has been bombarding
him with talk of marriage so, he needed to play safe. A journalist
called before you did asking about our marriage plans and
even that in itself is a rumour.”
Then she concluded: “Carl and I are still together even
as before.”
Asked her to clarify what she meant by ‘even as before’.
She said whatever relationship they had before is what they
still have now.
But the question that is still begging for answer is why she
is no longer a regular face at Orangootan music? |
