Bim says her billionaire dad is a genius

Abimbola ‘Bim’ Fernandez, the 24-year-old daughter of billionaire, Deinde Fernandez, is trying for a career in music.

The aspiring artiste, who has a home in Manhattan, New York, United States, told the New York Post in a feature on her, that she counted pop princes, Rihanna, as one of her role models.

Bim, who is signed to SMH Records, already has a single out – Let’s Get Naked. She tells New York Post that it is a “poppy” song and despite its title, “it’s not even that racy.”

Though the feature was obviously aimed at giving Bim publicity with regards to her music career – her single debuted on Tuesday – the NY Post could not help but focus on her privileged background.

Straight off the bat, the article is quick to point out how different Bim’s current life is from that of the average struggling artiste. The aspiring singer who just got her record deal in November has a Picasso in her apartment, an original Dr. Suess painting and separate pictures with Kofi Annan and Nelson Mandela. She also calls the late Madiba, Uncle Mandela, because “she had known him since she was a kid.” All acquisitions and privileges that Bim’s role model, Rihanna, probably only dreamt about when she first started out, the article noted.

However, Bim is not unaware of her privileged life though she claimed that as a child she had no idea that she was rich. She also doesn’t come across as naïve when talking about how her father acquired his wealth.

“There was a coup in the Congo,” she tells the NY Post. “He made his first million, I think, [by] trading — obviously this is before I was born. They would give him oil in return for food, and then he would sell the oil. I don’t know if that’s legal, so if it’s not, don’t quote me,” she adds, with a laugh. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. My dad’s a genius.”

She also doesn’t hold any illusions about how the public and her fellow aspiring artistes may initially perceive her.

With regards to criticism from struggling artistes, she insists: “Money can’t buy a record deal. It can’t buy good music. You can either sing or you can’t.”

As for not being taken seriously as a musician based on her father’s wealth she says: “I think that, unfortunately, everyone’s perception of socialites has been pretty accurate so far, which is what I want to change. People think I’m exactly like Paris Hilton, that I do nothing, I don’t work for myself, I don’t make my own money, I just spend my dad’s money, and I’m a spoiled brat. I hope they’re not right.”