Akwa Ibom State-born Comedian Ernest Essien originally known
as Basket mouth who was on the scene before Bright Akpocha has revealed that he
let Bright Okpocha, now famous as ‘Basketmouth keep the name’ because of the hunger
for success in his eyes when he approached me.
Comedian Ernest Essien revealed this in an interview with Vanguard said he was
bearing the name but had to change his to MC Miracle to avoid clash of
identity.
No, he didn’t steal the name. Sometime in 2000-2001,
Basketmouth approached me during one of the Plantashun Boiz’s concert at D Den
on Isaac John in Ikeja and he introduced himself to me as ‘Basketmouth’ and
told me he heard I was also using the name. I was already an established
entertainer then so what I saw was a younger brother from Benin with hunger for success in
his eyes. There and then, I asked him if he liked the name and his
response was in the affirmative. I told him to keep the name so I changed mine.
Most of my friends including my wife did not approve of this. They said I sold my
birthright to him. Till date, some of my colleagues still call me MC
What brought about your choice of name
“Basketmouth”?
Back then, I used to perform at a place called ‘Tag’ in
Apapa with the Frontliners Band led by Jah Hanson. So any time we went on
recess, I will pick up the microphone to showcase my talent. On one fateful
day, when I started cracking jokes a guy just shouted “this guy you be
Basketmouth o,”! That was how the name stuck.
So what is your relationship with Basketmouth?
He is my younger brother who is doing very well for himself.
In fact, I feel proud that I allowed him use the name and he has always shown
me respect whenever we meet. Way back, we cover up shows for each other. I
remember one particular incident when he had to go for an interview at the
America embassy to get visa and also had to perform at Pall Mall in Calabar. He
called on me and I went to cover up for him. We have a cordial relationship
though we hardly see often because of our busy schedules.
Definitely yes, because I had to begin a rebuilding process,
getting to let my clients and fans know about it . It took a lot of time, money
and conviction. But since they got used to it, it has been great.
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