From the proud and strong Bey Hives and Selenators getting into and inline and sometimes very physical fights with Rihanna’s Navy and The Arianators, to obsessed Beleibers and Harries ready to lay down their lives for their idols and then crazy fan girls and probably unhinged Armies and STAYS that have invaded the music world with an awe of support that is on the border line of worship for Korean boy bands that have taken the world by storm with catchy music and good looks. Fans are everywhere, and the more dedicated and die hard fans are called stans. Stan culture has even made its way into the Nigerian music sector with the unwavering and loyal, die hard fans like Wizkid Fc, the free spirited and no belt wearing gang that is the Marlians and so many more. So what exactly is Stan culture and what effect does it have on music, artists and many more.

The word “stan” is a reference to the 2000 hit song of the name by Eminem. In this horror-core rap featuring Dido, he raps about a psychotic, obsessive fan who begins to stalk him and over flood him with letters containing words of admiration and how is in awe of the rapper to other messages that were just plain weird and uncomfortable and when he does not respond, the fan proceeds to kidnap and his pregnant girlfriend and ride of a cliff killing himself and the girl. Very extreme.While others say the word is gotten from mixing the words; “stalker” and “fan”, another reasonable argument, as it somehow defines the average stan. You can use the word “Stan” as a verb or a noun. As a noun, it means an overly enthusiastic fan, especially of a celebrity or an overzealous or obsessive maniacal fan of a celebrity while as a verb it means to be such kind of person, the act of which is called stanning. Basically, a stan is a person that is really crazy about or interested in a celebrity or a famous person to the point of obsession. Although, some people just use it to term fans of a celeb.

Stan culture is the behavior or beliefs of an extreme fandom whose members fervently and blindly support their chosen celebrity or team, often demonizing or reviling anyone or anything opposed to, or not sufficiently devoted to, the object of their worship. Most time it is not as extreme as it but yeah that pretty much sums what stan culture is and who is a stan.

As crazy as it sounds, and how you probably feel we would better without stans, the latter is false. The growth of music industries and artists is directly linked to the stans and with Afropop and Nigerian music being one of the most exciting genres of music right now, with its influence reaching far and wide, it is no surprise that the rise in stans would be inevitable. Now everything from music, to actors and even BBN reality stars have their very own obsessive and devoted fanbases, from the Outlaws and Ravers supporting the young and sensational acts of Victony and Rema, to the Mercenaries and Titans of Big Brother Naija participants; Mercy Eke and Tacha.

At the forefront of the stan culture in Nigeria is the fan base one of the most popular artist the Nigerian industry has produced, Ayodeji Balogun, known better by his stage names; Wizkid or Starboy. The artist has dominated both the Nigerian music industry and internationally as well for over a decade now since his introduction to the spotlight and same can be said for his stans. The fan base, simply known as Wizkid FC has been a force to reckon with both locally and internationally. Although the FC get their name from the artist’s collaboration jersey with the mega sports brand Nike, they’ve been around for much longer. Though the FC members come from around the world, the core and foundation of the FC is the same, Wizkid is him, the best at what he does and no one should disrespect him, simple as that, whether it is religiously following their idol, dedicatedly streaming his songs or aggressively coming to defend him or his music especially on the social media app that is Twitter and trolling fans of other artists, the FC have been ahead of the pack for a while.

All these are normal traits for stans in especially in global music stan culture, but the FC have made giant strides in Afro-beats and Africa as a whole, becoming the benchmark for many an artists fanbases, especiallyy in the Afrobeats genre and its offshoots. Like the person they idolize, the FC has all but dominated stan culture and conversations especially in the post-digital era, they have made social media their weapon to defend their idol. The fanbase influence and domination on social media rest strongly on their numbers and noise, they can not be ignored. The sheer amount of accounts who identify as a Wizkid stan account is unfathomable, not counting those who are normal social media users but the will of the FC is still manifested in them. It has even become an marketing tactic to advertise oneself as a Wizkid stan and watch fellow FC members trooping to your following section or ready to engage with you. Apart from the numbers they have, the noise alone and level of activity far outclasses any sort of competition from other rival fanbases.

Although the members of the FC show an increase every day or so, it is safe to say that most of them joined the bandwagon of Wizkid faithfuls years back. Speaking to a die hard Wizkid fan, he says “although I had not delved deep deep into music at the start of his career(Wizkid), but the idea of him amazed him, from the cool kid at “Holla at Your Boy” and then I was hooked at “Ayo”. I couldn't just stop listening to his tracks, like you just want to love this guy and watch him be the superstar he is”

Wizkid FC aside, the constant evolution and domination of Nigeria music and the Afrobeats genre, stan culture and fanbasese have seen oustanding growth