Nigerian artist Salle, also credited as Kosisochukwa Gospel Peters, recently revealed the true origins of the viral video that launched her career.
Salle discussed her origins, the misinterpretations around the video, and her trip to Lagos in an interview with Chude Jideonwo on the well-known program #WithChude.
During the video, she made clear that she wasn’t really selling anything. Rather, she merely supported her mother, an eastern Nigerian food business owner.
“I wasn’t hawking,”
“Though you know, it’s hard to explain right now. Because literally, that’s what it looks like. When the person who made that video made that video, he took my permission, yes. He wanted to make that video in my mum’s shop; my mum sells food in the east.
“My mum said no. She doesn’t want a camera, and she doesn’t want herself out there on social media. She doesn’t want her property on social media, and we should go somewhere else. So the guy who made the video was like, ‘I need something that would make people know that this is your background, something that will represent who you are. I don’t just want people to just watch a random video. So you pick something from your mum’s shop to represent who you are.’
“The tray I was holding, when people from the street behind my mum’s shop order food and they don’t have the strength to come, you know, to probably eat or pick it up, I go to serve them the food with the tray. The guy was like, ‘Why not pick this tray? At least is a good symbol of everything.’ That was how it happened. I wasn’t hawking; I serve food for my mum,”
Salle shared the story of how her talent was discovered. The singer narrated:
“He was a music-minded person. He has good ears for music. He heard me singing while I was washing plates in my mum’s shop. He was a customer in the shop. He was like, ‘I want the world to hear what I’m hearing right now. I like what I’m hearing.’ I knew I could sing, but I did not know there was something like videos going viral. If you could sing, then put yourself on social media. It was because I wasn’t inclined then. I was just going about…”
