Dancer and content creator, Official Starter has disclosed that he compensates all of the market women he collaborates with for his viral dance videos.
He emphasized that it was imperative to pay the market women for their contributions because they sacrifice their various business schedules for his content.
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Official Starter made this comment during a recent discussion at the Pulse Chat Session at the African Music Business Dialogue.
“Right now I am working with them so I have to pay them because they are not professional dancers, they are market women, and because they are not professional dancers, creating a choreography takes like 10 minutes with someone like Endurance, but with them, it might take like 2 to 3 hours.
“They have to leave whatever they are doing to join me, so I have to pay them; I’m wasting their time,” Official Starter said.
Official Starter expressed appreciation for the chance to work with market ladies and highlighted the challenges associated with working with the women who are not professional dancers.
“Working with them, I feel like I have to do more,” he said. “The people out there, some don’t even know me. My content is crossing borders. Getting to that part is crazy. Me working with mothers… You have to be calm. Working with 20 market women, you have to arrange them. It’s not easy,” he added.
Official Starter’s commitment to compensate the market women is an appreciation to their sacrifices and contributions towards his viral content.
Born Ernest Raja Nettey, Official Starter rose to fame with his catchy dance videos featuring market ladies in the city’s busy marketplaces.
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Their passionate performances have won over hearts all around the world, and Afrobeat superstar, Burna Boy even gave them a shout-out.