I Wasn’t Hawking When I Did That Video – Salle Tells Her True Story

Salle, the Nigerian “hawker”-cum-singer, has recently told the true story of the viral video that set her career up.

In an interview with Chude Jideonwo on the popular show #WithChude, Salle talked about the misunderstandings surrounding the video, her background, and her journey to Lagos.

She clarified that during the time of the video, she wasn’t actually selling anything herself. Instead, she was just helping her mother who runs a food business in the East of Nigeria.

“I wasn’t hawking,” she said. “Though you know, it’s hard to explain right now. Because literally, that’s what it looks like. When the person who made that video made that video, he took my permission, yes. He wanted to make that video in my mum’s shop; my mum sells food in the east.

“My mum said no. She doesn’t want a camera, and she doesn’t want herself out there on social media. She doesn’t want her property on social media, and we should go somewhere else. So the guy who made the video was like, ‘I need something that would make people know that this is your background, something that will represent who you are. I don’t just want people to just watch a random video. So you pick something from your mum’s shop to represent who you are.’

“The tray I was holding, when people from the street behind my mum’s shop order food and they don’t have the strength to come, you know, to probably eat or pick it up, I go to serve them the food with the tray. The guy was like, ‘Why not pick this tray? At least is a good symbol of everything.’ That was how it happened. I wasn’t hawking; I serve food for my mum,”

Salle shared the story of how her talent was discovered. The singer narrated:

“He was a music-minded person. He has good ears for music. He heard me singing while I was washing plates in my mum’s shop. He was a customer in the shop. He was like, ‘I want the world to hear what I’m hearing right now. I like what I’m hearing.’ I knew I could sing, but I did not know there was something like videos going viral. If you could sing, then put yourself on social media. It was because I wasn’t inclined then. I was just going about…”