Video queens taking on Bongo Flava

Dar es Salaam. They have got the looks, curves and the moves that are believed to be key to the commercial success of most music videos in the world today.

The models that are used in pop videos today to bring out the message and to give glamour to the video.

The true world of a video vixen has never been as glamorous as it is today with a different trend coming up on a daily basis.

The video vixen image has become a staple and a nuanced form of sex work within music; especially within the genre of hip-hop.

As it turns out many video vixens or hip hop honeys are aspiring actors, singers, dancers, or professional models, though some stick to it as a career.

The work of video vixens and their portrayal in music videos have on many occasions drawn criticism.

To some they are just some bimbos who have nothing to show apart from their bodies which they unreservedly display.

But maybe that is about to change in Bong Flava as video vixens are taking the game on and this time they seem determined to succeed against all odds.

When Amber Lulu a famous Bongo video model released her first hit ‘Watakoma’ featuring Country Boy, it seemed like some fluke. She went on to prove that she was into business when in July she released another single ‘Only You’.

To add some sheen controversial video model Gigi Money pursued the same route when she released ‘Papa’ which has since become a club banger earning plenty of airplay on both radio and TV stations.

These were at one time one of the most sought after video models whose controversy and daring personalities made them the go to models.

In the videos they do their stuff just like they would have done on another commercial video with very revealing images something that has attracted criticism from, some pundits and musicians.

Singer Dyna Nyange doesn’t seem to take it lightly who believes the models are just trying to come to terms with their situation.

Ismail Hassan a DJ at one of the pubs in Sinza also says this is quite against the division of labour and specialization in the industry.

“From the word go we knew Gigi Money as a video vixen now all of a sudden she wants to be recognized as a musician, this is not what the industry needs to grow,” says Ismail.

He says the airplay that the songs have received have been mainly because of curiosity and not that the music is great.

Video vixens haven’t always been this big. There was a time when there weren’t avenues for their kind of artistic expression and society was at its stifling worst.

So obviously they lost out on a lot of the action as many branded them as immoral.

Things have changed a lot however since satellite television and western TV stations started beaming signals into homes.

seeing scantily clad young women shaking on TV is not so outrageous anymore even though there are a few pockets of resistance.

The reality, however, is that the video vixen culture is branching out into a whole industry of its own with managers, tour dates and choreographers tagging along and becoming a constant feature of contemporary music.

Some video vixens who have made a name for themselves in the music industry, as well as girls with limited work as hip hop models, have gone on to other types of work with greater success, mostly by marketing themselves.

The hard liners maintain that video vixens are faced with emphasis on their physical aspects for videos where sex is often used to sell both the performer and the performer’s image.

Women’s derogatory images are the commodities sold through videos and photographs.

Whether the artistes’ move is a positive to the industry remains something that only time can tell.