Will Jidenna succeed in his quest to win over the Nigerian audience?

Jidenna is keen on warming himself into the hearts of Nigerians.

Jidenna Theodore Mobisson, better known as Jidenna, is bent on warming his way into the hearts of Nigerians and getting the level of acceptance he’s yearning for from the good folks he once ‘unintentionally’ offended.

His statement in 2015 that he ‘brought in a lot of AK47s and employed military commandos‘ when he came to Nigeria to bury his father for fear of being kidnapped didn’t go down well with Nigerians.

To that effect, he wrote a letter saying he meant no offence with the statement.

Jidenna wants to break into the Nigerian market.

Jidenna has apologised and Nigerians on their parts might have accepted his explanations and forgiven him, but he wants more. He wants his music embraced by the good people of his native country.

And what better way to achieve that than to embark on a proper representation of the people’s culture, openly expressing his pride in associating with his heritage and bringing it right to their door steps.

Apart from his planned promotional trip to the country at the end of August, with a journey back to his childhood home in Enugu, the ‘Classic Man’ has released a music video for his debut album’s lead single, ‘Chief Don’t Run.’

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiUibQxWgik[/youtube]

The four-minute-long visual shows a framed wall picture of his father regally decked in his red Igbo cap, traditional attire and royal beads.

Also depicted in the video are men dressed in traditional attires, a statement of intent on Jidenna’s part, to showcase Nigeria’s rich culture.

While all these moves by the Wisconsin-born rapper to establish himself as one of Nigeria’s true sons in diaspora are commendable and endearing, whether he will be obliged by the Nigerian audience is another issue entirely.