AbdulRasheed Bello, popularly known as JJC Skillz, to celebrate his 43rd birthday on Saturday, 4th April, 2020, hosted a few friends and family in his Amen estate home, Lekki Lagos. This was in spite of the Lagos state government’s ban on public gatherings of more than 20 people due to the coronavirus pandemic.
JJC who is married to Nollywood actress Funke Akindele, was arrested with his wife on Sunday, 5th April 2020 for contravening government order.
The two have been subsequently released on the payment of a fine and community service.
When videos from the party surfaced online it caused an outrage amongst fans and social media users. Funke Akindele Bello is a Dettol ambassador and the face of their Clean Hands Naija campaign, she has also partnered with the NCDC in the fight against Coronavirus.
While most of the public outrage was directed at Funke, her husband Skillz seems to have scaled through relatively unscathed.
Though not much might be known about him, JJC Skillz has a long record in the Nigerian music industry.
Born in Kano state, Nigeria in 1977, AbdulRasheed relocated to the United Kingdom and this is where he started his music career.
Starting off as a DJ and producer, JJC landed a career defining opportunity in 2001 – to co- produce for a ‘Big Brovas’, a UK pop band. Skillz and his co producer Fingaz already worked together under the Big Brovas name, and they decided upon that as the name of the band.
The band received a Sony deal, and their first single Nu Flow was a chart topper in the UK. The band that will go on to win several awards and continue to top UK charts.
Skillz as he was then known, after his time with Big Brovas, created his own band, 419 Squad comprising himself, S.O. Simple, Smokey & MP.
They called their music “Afropean” and were a hip-hop group based in London.
In 2003, the group released Atide, a 15 track album, which according to JJC himself, was a combination of ‘hip hop, R&B, soca, salsa, garage, mixed with African flavours’.
11 songs off the Atide album featured D’banj, lending both his vocals and the harmonica to the songs.
In 2004, the 419 Squad won the ‘Best African Group’ category at the KORA All Africa Music Award for their work on the Atide album.
JJC & 419 Squad were the first African acts to have been guests on Tim Westwood’s BBC Radio 1 Rap Show (UK). Skillz also had his own global hip hop show on the BBC digital radio channel, 1Xtra.
In 2010, JJC released the classic We Are Africans that featured Seun Kuti, Dagrin, Eldee, AY.Com and others. The single became an anthem that made JJC recognizable in the Nigerian music industry.
JJC is affiliated with several names in the Nigerian music industry including D ́Banj, who was featured on several songs on the Atide album, Don Jazzy who played the keyboard at the live show that the 419 Squad at Queen Elizabeth Hall London in 2005, Weird MC, Olu Maintain, Bouqui and others.
He is credited for producing Weird MC’s Ijoya, Pu Yanga by Tillaman, Morile by Buoqui amongst others.
In 2013, he won the best International Act in the Nigerian Entertainment Awards.
In 2016, JJC and Nollywood actress Funke Akindele celebrated a quiet wedding in London. Since then, the duo have combined forces in the entertainment industry, they announced the launch of their production outfit, Scene One Production, in 2017, which acts as a music record label, as well as a TV production outfit.
Funke Akindele’s very popular Jenifa’s Diary is now also being produced by Scene One productions. Other series from the outfit include Industreet, as well as Aiyetoro Town.
Though JJC Skillz may not be a name that is well known in the Nigerian entertainment scene, his impact goes back several years and across several people.
Even though Funke Akindele bore the brunt of the public outrage over the birthday party thrown, it is only fair that JJC share some of the blame.
It was his birthday, it was at his instance that the party gathered, he is a veteran in the Nigerian entertainment industry, and he is Funke’s husband.
Social media paid him no mind, choosing instead to hang the more popular Funke Akindele in their quickly constructed gallows