Stunner finally speaks on sex tape with Pokello

Musician Desmond Chideme, better known as Stunner, has for the first time expressed regret over his leaked sex tape, saying it has had a negative impact on his once flourishing rap career.

On the other hand his co-star in the distasteful tape, Pokello Nare, seems to have been catapulted to actual stardom after being selected to be one of the Zimbabwean representatives at the Big Brother Africa (BBA) The Chase currently under way.

Soon after the sex tape leak, Stunner was dumped by many companies he had endorsement deals with, the media shunned him and he was no longer as visible as he was before at major live shows.

Competition also seems to be stiff for the Glen Norah-based rapper as he is being eclipsed by rising rappers like Tehn Diamond, Junior Brown, Mc Cut and Tate the MC, to mention but just a few.

In an interview Stunner admitted that there are artistes who are now doing better than him in the rap music game.

"Of course there are better rap artistes than me but most of them take music as a hobby, as for me music is business that is why I am doing aggressive marketing and employing new strategies to boost my career. When that tape leaked, which was unintentional, the bad publicity that followed was so much that it appeared as if the media had personal scores to settle with me - in the process, of course, I lost endorsements.

"It pulled me back a little but looking back at how I was progressing in the industry before the leak of the tape and now, I think I am beginning to get my groove back. I have had time to grow as a musician - where I used to do a whole album, for instance, with one producer which lacked diversity, I now use more. These days I am able to deliver what my audience wants and I do that through different producers," said Stunner.

He said it was a good thing that he has a big ego which gave him courage to get back on his feet and be strong enough to stand in front of his fans again.

Last Sunday at the Power FM-hosted BBA eviction party held at the Book Cafe, Stunner showed signs of life - proving that he can resurrect his career from the musical cemetery if he ditches his bad boy image.

His performance was so full of energy and he sampled a new track titled Vavengi that was full of maturity and creativity but, in a show of desperation to bring back the good old days, the Godo hit-maker resorted to distributing for free his latest album, Ndaita Mari. The self-crowned King of Bling said that despite the lack of limelight, he was making money through music.

"I do music to make money and because now I am still lacking the push from the media, I have decided to do online marketing which is more viable compared to selling hard copies. I remember when I sold my album, Team Hombe, as hard copies, I only earned US$70 whereas with internet marketing I could have earned something like US$1 000 or more."

As Stunner fights to stay relevant in the music industry, his love interest Pokello, whom he seems unsure whether or not to acknowledge as his girlfriend, this week rests easy in the BBA house after being saved from eviction by Head of House Bassey last week.

Pokello, whose selection for BBA season eight is attributed to her instant fame after the leaked sex tape with Stunner, was again up for eviction two weeks ago.