Ice Prince and Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo, December 2012. Photo: Instagram/Ice Prince
Insiders told Nigerian Entertainment Today during the week that the rapper was approached with a mouth-watering deal to become the brand’s latest ambassador due to his success – from releasing several hit songs to his many local and international awards and his bestselling debut album ‘Everybody Loves Ice Prince’ in 2011.
But Panshak Zamani doesn’t come cheap. We’re told he’s asking for a whopping sum of $1m (N157,000,000).
‘He was serious, he knows his worth and knows they can afford it so he turned the deal down‘ says our insider at GLO, who wants to remain anonymous.
Most GLO ambassadors are paid within the N10-N20m range, with D’banj and Psquare being the rare exceptions. Psquare got N240m for a four year deal, as reported by NET exclusively on June 30, 2010.
It’s not clear if GLO will up the figures for the Chocolate city rapper, but if they concede to Ice’s demands, he’ll become the Nigerian rapper with the biggest endorsement deal ever. And Ice Prince is cool with that (no pun intended). In the last 20 months, the rapper has become the highest-earning Nigerian rapper, with revenue sources including concert fees and endorsements (he inked a deal with LG in 2012) as well as non-music related deals no one seems willing to talk about.
The rapper’s management has denied Glo approached their team. ‘We didn’t get any offer from them, I just confirmed from my team, there’s been no offer’, a rep for Ice Prince says.
Meanwhile, a rep for GLO didn’t comment, stating that it was not in his place to do so.
Meanwhile, Ice is now ‘top priority’ at his record label Chocolate City, a position which was for many years shared by rapper M.I and younger brother Jesse Jagz. M.I seems to be focused on Loopy Records, setting up an office in Gbagada, Lagos and working to build his own community of talents. Jesse hasn’t released material since his debut album ’Jagz of all Trade‘ in 2009.
Zamani has also positioned himself – releasing the Hausa-influenced hit single ‘Aboki’ and winning the hearts of the rich, influential Northern Nigerian elites, including Ministers, Governors and members of the Royal family.
‘Jesse Jagz used to appeal to the North, but he’s not released an album or hit song since his 2009 album. Chocolate City had to fill up that position, Ice Prince has stepped in and has done so perfectly with ‘Aboki” an insider at Chocolate City tells us.
Ice Prince is now also building a team of his own; his former group back in Jos ‘GRIP Boiz‘ has relocated to Lagos to link up with him. His last set of singles have been produced by his buddy Chopstix, rather than usual suspect Jesse Jagz.
Ice Prince’s journey to fame, wealth and stardom started in 2007, when he tagged along with M.I and Jesse Jagz to Lagos, hoping to blow up after establishing himself in Jos. He landed a verse on ‘Blaze‘ on M.I’s debut album ‘Talk About It‘.
He later joined Choc City, and well, we know the rest…
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