Charly Boy introduce alter ego Linda
Nigerian entertainer Charly Boy also known by his stage name Area Fada recently made headlines by introducing a new persona called “Linda.” In a social media video, he declared, “Before these cross dressers began trending, I already broke that door open.”
In the clip, Charly Boy appears in female-styled make-up and dress, and introduces Linda as his alter ego. He reflects on his decades-long career, noting that in the early 1980s he challenged conventional norms by mixing music, fashion, and performance in a way few in Nigerian entertainment dared. He highlights how he used wigs, leather outfits, and skirts as part of his showmanship not as mere gimmicks, but as a statement of self-expression.
According to him, the recent wave of social-media “cross-dressers” in Nigeria is building on a foundation he laid. He claims his bold, gender-fluid presentation at a time when it stirred public commentary helped create space for more visible expressions of identity today. He said the path was not easy, emphasising that society often judged and mocked his style, but he persisted as a voice and symbol of creative freedom.
The moment raises both celebration and controversy. Some admire Charly Boy for his role in stretching boundaries of performance and cultural norms in Nigeria. Others question the framing of “cross-dressing” and the implications of calling earlier forms of gender-nonconforming style a basis for later trends. Either way, the introduction of Linda reconnects with a longtime theme in Charly Boy’s work: disruption of expectations, blending of music, fashion and identity, and the creation of personal myth-making.
