The Great Nigerian Rap Beef and Other Tragedies

To treat the Odumodublvck-Blaqbonez beef as less than a tragedy is to oversimplify all we have observed – albeit mostly, and for the genre, uncharacteristically, off-wax. So tragic is it, also, to consider the state of rap in Nigeria and the conversations we recycle, and be unbothered, since both situations are connected. It’s not surprising that the general populace refuses to see beyond win-lose binaries. The duty of the wizened in such times is to guide conversations rightly. Thus, as furnaces across the federation smoulder, let us ponder on what is and what should be. There is a compounding comedy of errors affecting the oldest pillar of what is today known as Afrobeats. As with the great clown Pagliacci, none of the jokes are funny. 

I

Growing up on the internet, with hip-hop education outside direct consumption comprising essays, wacky listicles, and long-form YouTube videos, you learn quickly that rap beefs aren’t always won by skill. Neither are rap battles. Trivial formats like the Emmy-winning Epic Rap Battles of History drove the story home in bite form; the better rapper isn’t guaranteed a victory, ‘better’ will always be in question, and narrative takes the cake. Amen. 

Nigerian Hip-Hop is no different. High-profile beefs and underground feuds often come down to the prevailing narrative, as propagated by diss tracks or associated antics. To illustrate this, consensus on the last great event, MI vs Vector Tha Viper, remains elusive six years onward. Years before that, MI took out Kelly Handsome with the unlyrical “Beef”, and Vector’s superior technical tirade on “Distractions” couldn’t douse Reminisce’s flames. Beef thrives on moments, the ability to inspire belief in one’s sixteens and then some. And because rap beefs are not like rap battles, they can be drawn out for months or years, yet remain one-sided because of street cred-erasing missteps, even when the losing side rhymes fairly well – think Cannibus and LL Cool J. 

The beef between Odumodublvck and Blaqbonez is now in its second year, counting down from the first official shots on wax, Odumodublvck’s “Pussy Niggaz” freestyle in November 2024. Despite a bevvy of subliminals —Blaqbonez on A-Q’s “Who’s Really Rapping”, “Go Crazy” and the Barry Jhay-assisted “Stacks$$$”; Odumodublvck on “WAGE WAR”, “LAYI WASABI” (feat. Reminisce) and “GASOLINE”  (one of Vector’s best verses in a while) — and direct disses —  Blaqbonez on “ACL” and Odumodu on “UNAWARE” (feat. UK rapper, Pa Salieu), “2:02 PM IN LONDON (FREESTYLE), and the Anti World Gangstars “Antiworld” Cypher on January 1st, this year — there’s yet to be an overwhelming consensus, most of it owing to the circumstances behind the beef. However, from a track-only perspective, Blaq took the crown, owing to the content and timing of “ACL”. It wasn’t lyrically dense. In fact, the OAU alumnus has better diss tracks from previous spats, like his 1-v-everybody “Best Rapper in Africa (BRIA)” and the Khaligraph Jones-directed “Green Blaq Green.” However, the power of narrative from the video won, drawing in about 25 million views on X in nine days, as more people clicked to see Antiworld’s frontman crash out in his DMs.

Fans and foes alike have watched the beef descend into a maelstrom of ignoble actions, complete with cyber-harassment, physical assault, and allegations against some of Nigeria’s rap OGs. Most of this has arrived from Odumodublvck’s camp; all of it is shameful. Contrary to recycled rhetoric, such dirt isn’t out of place in the genre. This isn’t the first beef to extend out of the booth. Nigerian Hip-hop enthusiasts are shortsighted in treating this as an aberration, wrongly assuming that the adaptation of a genre marked by bigotry and violence to our country would occur without some features manifesting as recessive genetics. 

II

At the risk of being misconstrued, this writer acknowledges the reprehensible nature of those actions. It is the interconnectedness of these issues within the scene that prompted a diatribe. The events of these past few months might appear silo-ed from a superficial standpoint. But there are patterns, horrors that persist. In this case, one is rap’s treatment of women as fodder and ammunition during these glorified poetry jousts. 

On October 26, 2025, multiple Nigerian dailies reported a legal petition filed against Blaqbonez by a Jane Doe, accusing the rapper of cyber harassment, blackmail and invasion of privacy. The appellant’s firm, Bristol & Mortglass C.S, issued a statement claiming that Jane Doe had been ‘subjected to prolonged cyberstalking, emotional harassment and non-consensual circulation of private video content allegedly after rejecting the artist’s romantic advances since December 2024. Before the firm’s involvement, Jane Doe had supposedly served legal correspondence to Blaqbonez on 30th December, 2024, and January 8, 2025, via TIA Solicitors, demanding the rapper’s immediate deletion of her private material, an unreserved public apology, and financial compensation for emotional distress. 

Blaq responded two days later in a now-deleted X post, stating that the allegations were false. He mentioned that the petition was part of a months-long harassment and intimidation. He also acknowledged that the story was tied to a personal relationship that ended without conflict but had become entangled with professional rivalries — alluding to the spat with Odumodublvck — and that full cooperation with the authorities was ongoing. The back and forth in the aftermath of this particular episode includes a series of posts on December 31, 2025, and January 1, 2026, by X user, @mesoma_ _, a supposed friend of the accused, claiming that Blaq had slept behind bars for two nights after turning himself in on October 29th; multiple call-outs by Odumodu and his affiliates who claim this is the core issue at hand; rebuttals from Blaq’s affiliates, particularly Chocolate City AnR 10TEN; and as expected, investigations by the Twitterati. 

Hold on to the above info, then consider this carefully: if at all this alleged case is  the source of the feud, there’s no reason for Odumodu to have resorted to dissing his opponent’s streams, career positions and all. No reason to have launched a barrage of texts in Blaq’s X DM, allegedly intimidating Chocolate City Head of A&R Olayinka Osagie Onobun. No justification for allegedly assaulting Chocolate City staff Feyi Ajayi on December 22, 2025, Blaq at Landmark Beach in December 2024, Uyo in March 2025 (where Blaq’s Manager Morin Oluwatobi was also harassed) and in the UK in September 2025. In multiple interviews since then, most recently with Pulse, he’s claimed the feud is more than a rap beef. Yet, on a song like the “Antiworld” cypher released on New Year’s Day, he alluded to the Uyo incident and making more hits and money than his foe (“Further down in Uyo Town, where them dey dey chaw dog I dug am/hand for hand, hit for hit/ shift him teeth, sing or rap”). Pray tell us what that has to do with justice. It’s a paradox signalling a disconnect in intent. One could take it a step further to posit the beef as less about Jane Doe and more about vindictive dominance. 

This way, Odumodublvck would be following a pattern seen in rap where women become fodder in the fray. Similar instances include Drake’s allegations of domestic abuse against Kendrick Lamar during their 2024 spat. Drake had earlier, outrageously and disturbingly, claimed that the Compton rapper’s son was the product of an illicit affair with Manager Dave Free. In his soon-to-be-RIAA-Diamond response, Kendrick called Drake a paedophile, with a propensity for grooming. A more bizarre incident was 9ice fueling rumours of an affair between his ex-wife, Toni Payne, and rapper, Ruggedman, with his 2010 single, “Once Bitten.” It would take six years to publicly address the rumours, but by then, the damage had already been done. Then there’s the infamous Tupac and Biggie debacle and that line on “Hit ‘Em Up.”

Rap has always had a misogyny problem. It’s worse when this misogyny involves real-life issues utilised as munitions. Clearly, the victims’ safety isn’t a priority. This doesn’t occur in isolation, either. Listeners who forego nuance contribute to the binary, unwilling to accept that their favourite rappers display misogynoir to ‘win’ — whatever that means. It’s never that deep. And when it is, they are justified by the other party employing similar tactics. Ego reigns supreme. Lady Justice is an afterthought. No one loses sleep over the potential impact of these claims being true or otherwise.

III

In the past week, X  has raged about the GOAT Nigerian rapper. Earlier, in January, Dremo’s Man2Man challenge took up a life of its own, spurring verses from rappers like Oladips, Kabex, Ycee, Ajebo Hustlers, and Dan Dizzy. Anyone who has stayed long enough would be unfazed by both events. They are staples of the Hip-Hop calendar at this point, along with that overly recycled “MI Abaga’s Chairman album tracklist was so mindblowing” post. They are staples because not enough curation takes place. And not enough curation takes place because Nigerian Hip-Hop media stagnates.

Rather than track-by-track breakdowns, video essays, or anything hinting at a curatorial approach, what we got in the course of the Odumodu-Blaq beef was engagement-farming, with few exceptions – somebody thank the Nigerian Barz Association. The commentary lacked direction, with the worst of the lot traceable to Battle Rap Africa founder and The Hip-Hop Event organiser Adebayo Ayodeji ‘Daygenius’ Oladele. It was sad to see someone so central to several aspects of the culture succumb to divisiveness. Chasing controversies for Elon’s doubloons. One would think it clearly logical to utilise the few existing platforms to push the genre forward, rather than attacking stakeholders and fans alike. But genius proves elusive. 

We know the nature of rap, like other elements of Hip-Hops (breakdancing, graffiti, and DJing), is competitive. We understand that preferences exist, but this doesn’t preclude approaching commentary with professionalism. Neither does it absolve misguided comparisons. That insistence on base neutrality is the difference between commentary by the Akademiks, Fantanos and Kurrcos of this world, and the Justin Huntes, Funk Flexes, and Sways. Folks should recognise that one’s top five doesn’t translate to the general audience’s. Hip-hop isn’t the genre for distasteful blanket statements. Take that to the pop pages (And for heaven’s sake, someone please yank the phones away from battle rappers). We need to be able to disagree with our rappers while maintaining cordial relationships. 

We need hip-hop media pages that care about hip-hop. Pages that love the culture to death like Boogey said on MI Abaga’s classic mixtape cut, “Ridiculous.” These handles see their counterparts in other genres build repositories of up-to-date info with equivalent resources. Nostalgia heapings just will not cut it. Unless they believe the occasional banger constitutes influence, in which case, one can only wish them nothing. 

IV

Our rap scene lacks liminal spaces for OGs. Only a few morph into those new roles, as label execs or entrepreneurs, or if luck persists, older artists who put out the occasional project. Multiple factors are responsible for this, with the relatively young age of the sub-industry being key alongside the genre’s waxing and waning popularity. For instance, while there are twenty years between the emergence of Sinzu (fka Sauce Kid) and Zaylevelten, there aren’t so many eras in between.

So maybe —just maybe — these continuity gaps are responsible for the disrespect by younger rappers and enthusiasts alike. To borrow from that Chimamanda essay, it is obscene how many self-styled hip-hop heads fail to ‘do the knowledge’ and instead parrot inchoate observations on rap legends past and present. If this were exclusive to young listeners, perhaps it could be overlooked, but even those who attended Industry Nites join the mob. This week alone, fans have attacked Modenine and Illbliss for their opinions (the former staked a claim to the GOAT lyricist title, while the latter called for consistency beyond the occasional rap challenge). Upcoming rappers with only an EP out and nary a local hit song in sight, battle rappers with more choke rounds than free and fair Presidential elections, put on their best clown suits, and resorted to insults. Phenom. Cyrus tha Virus. A-Q. Rappers with indelible footprints in Naija rap history are subjected to insults by these vacuous heads. Even in instances where younger contemporaries speak in affirmation of these legends’ contributions, like with Ajebo Hustlers for Modo, a thirst for the last word prevents any reasoning. 

To forestall events like these, some older rappers have resorted to telling their own stories and posting as many throwbacks as possible. eLDee posts videos about his time with the Trybesmen and navigating the industry. In December, Illbliss began two docuseries: ‘Hip-Hop I Say…THANK YOU’ and ‘Eastern Cartel’ on Nigerian Hip-Hop’s past and present. Despite being a producer, ID Cabasa never fails to tweet about defining moments and people. In this age of sustained brain rot, euphemised as ‘agenda,’ it is essential that more and more rappers put together archives of their contributions. Younger rappers should take a cue and follow suit. The new underground, with rappers like Zaylevelten, ARTSALGHUL, Eggerton, 44db Collective’s producer-rapper Tochi Bedford, Fimi, DEELA, Ravington, to name a few, appears to have learnt this lesson squarely, littering the internet with performance recordings, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews. So that someday, when they talk about sharing international stages, some rando from the depths of pop culture hell wouldn’t reframe history, much like has occurred with the forerunners. A culture of sustained journalism has ensured that anyone who looks hard enough will find a blog post or grainy YouTube video about specific moments in Hip-Hop. 

This duty is as much for individual artists as it is Hip-Hop media’. Yes, we aren’t quite there yet as an industry in terms of recognition or a Hall of Fame. And even the award shows that started out in this stead, like the Headies (fka Hip Hop World Awards), have shifted focus from the genre, bar those three categories. Regardless, a lot can be done to appreciate the OGs and present day talent. Podcasts like ‘Loose Talk’ and ‘With An S’ show that with or without access, spotlighting the greats is possible. Individual creators like Ose (@Iam_smeezy on X), Collins Ajayi (Banks’ Reactions), Emman Owoniyi, Deji Osikoya, Elsie not Elise, and Cheezy (of The Culture CTRL)  are documenting the scene’s past and present in real time. Rap in Nigeria predates the umbrella misnomer that is Afrobeats, and is just eight years younger than Hip-Hop as a whole (Rome Ekundayo released the first Nigerian Hip-Hop album, The Way I Feel, in 1981). The default reaction to its legends should be respect. Simple as. 

V

Although, all of these pieces — the Odumodu-Blaqbonez beef and its offshoots, rap legends’ ill treatments, media insufficiency, and the cyclical nature of rap discourse — fit into a bleak pattern of woe, it would be irresponsible to interpret this as genre death. What exactly does the state of the culture tell us?  

Among other things, high-quality projects are now the underground’s forte. Heads tapped into the zeitgeist got their fix from abstract Hip-Hop (CATHOLIC BOYS, SUNZ ON PEGASUS, X-Files), the boom-bap/pidgin underground (OMOBOY THE MIXTAPE, Vice Versa, The Cheyenne Show, Greatly Exaggerated EP, JONAH’s ROOM, Fimi With The Flow EP), indigenous rap (AGBALAGBI EP, The UCHE’s Story), experimental (then 1t g0t crazier, too l1t EP, before the dread, Yardtrap (Swagmania), Here Comes The Pain), or returning legends’ projects (Starters EP, GE3 (The Beginning), BIGBIRD & THA VIPER, Free Smoke). The mainstream also delivered its fair share with: INDUSTRY MACHINE, THE MACHINE IS COMING, NO EXCUSES, Olamide, Afrikan Magik, The Feast, Symbol of Hope and Onorato EP. Evidently, there were an applaudable number of high-quality projects scattered across last year, showing that the problem isn’t the music. 

What is needed is support. More fans need to stream these rappers, attend their shows, and share the music. Beef might be a staple of the genre, but if there’s anything the last great showdown revealed, it’s that it doesn’t move the needle. Neither do viral challenges, evidenced by the streaming returns on Dremo’s Man2Man. We need less of these antics that serve short-term goals. In his essay, “Lost in Translation: How English-speaking Nigerian rappers lost the plot to indigenous music”, culture critic Ayomide Tayo advocated for English-speaking rappers to adopt the approach of the 1990s Nollywood filmmakers by making their art ‘intimate and relatable’. Gatekeeping under the guise of ‘most lyrical’ or ‘high intellect music’ has only one proven path in Nigeria: extinction. There has to be resonance. Otherwise, more rappers will continue to watch on from the sidelines as yet another new wave dominates the scene. And then we complain again. And the tragedy persists.