Nation building: 'We need wise men, not celebrities' – Omar Sterling

Omar Sterling, sometimes called Paedae, of the multiple award-winning music group R2Bees, has doubled down on his “hatred” for celebrity worship.

The Stay by Plan podcast, in a video posted to their YouTube, asked what Sterling hates but has observed others like.

“I think mine would be celebrity worship,” the famous rapper answered.

He noted he once wrote about it on X, when it was Twitter, with the post going viral.

“Don’t look up to celebrities. What is famous is rarely wise,” he recalled the tweet.

He stressed he is “not a fan of celebrity worship” because being a celebrity is not an indication of wisdom needed to lead a generation or govern a nation.

He opined fame does not mean a person understands current affairs enough to effectively offer relevant solutions where necessary.

“…to be a celebrity… if you have a talent and you’re able to exploit it, you become known. It doesn’t mean you’re a wise man. And you know, we need wise men to build generations, not celebrities.

“You can be a celebrity and not have anything [constructive] to say regarding [governance] and political issues,” he said.

Due to “having a very strong spirit,” he explained he “never looked up to anybody as my hero,” even though he “admired a lot of people”.

The rapper and occasional singer, beloved for his philosophical rap songs like 2021’s A Mountain Full of Gold, argued celebrity worship interferes with one’s growth and true self-actualisation.

“We didn’t have heroes to worship so we’re able to become ourselves [and] not become somebody else,” he said.

Mugeez, the extroverted half of R2Bees, reacted to a question about how the genre-adventurous Tema-based duo has stayed relevant throughout the changing scenes of contemporary African music.

“It’s all about staying focused, giving the people what they want, we study the game, we know what they want always so [that’s how] we define our sound,” he said.