Nigerian Afrobeat Superstar Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, known professionally as Wizkid, stirred up a hornet nest when he described rap as “boring” and “dead”. The singer added that the only rappers from Africa are Ghana’s Sarkodie and Balck Shrief and South Africa’s Nasty C.
Wizkid made these assertions during an interview with 10 Magazine Australia, where they discussed Afrobeat’s popularity. According to Wizkid, Afrobeat is the new kid on the block as other genres, including rap music, do not excite music lovers’ palates.
Wizkid said in the interview: “Afrobeats is the new pop. I sold two million copies in America off of one song! Even some American artists don’t have a diamond record. If I’m being honest, I don’t listen to any other genre of music anymore.”
He also went on a tirade on Snapchat, insulting and calling Nigerian rappers broke. He also asked them to forward their rap video to their fathers in hopes that it may benefit their mothers.
Nigerian rappers and rap lovers responded in equal measure promising to drop diss tracks to showcase their lyrical prowess whilst dealing with Wizkid for the insults.
Oladips reacted by freestyling to the beat of American rapper, Kanye West’s ‘Good Morning’. While veteran rapper MI Abaga also listed names of Nigerian rap singers such as Vector, A.Q, Falz, Ladipoe, Blaqbonez, Ice Prince and Ajebo Hustlers. He added that these musicians are currently on the rise alongside the genre.
Black Sherif, Sarkodie and Nasty C are yet to react to Wizkid’s statement.