The revered rapper asked one question of the state of Nigerian Hip-hop and a horde of rappers picked up the microphone in attempts to respond.
With just one move, M.I became the most talked about rapper in Nigeria, for 2017.The revered rapper asked one question of the state of Nigerian Hip-hop and a horde of rappers picked up the microphone in attempts to respond.
N6's response
One of the responses came from OAP and rapper, N6. The tall dark radio show host released a reply track but rather than proffer answers to M.I’s question, he censured the chairman for approaching the topic the way he did.
N6 gave his opinion via his song, warning M.I to prepare to face the consequences of opening the Pandora's box. By consequences he probably meant the criticism and insults that followed M.I’s release of “fix up your life.” Indeed, M.I should have known that the society only likes to be told pleasant truths. He should have been prepared for the backlash of speaking against the system.
N6 was among the first to criticise the Choc City rapper with the line, “when the niggas who should be in the front line, turn around and call you losers.” Popular rapper, Vector also condemned the action of the rap OG. A number of other acts did the same while many others rolled out verses admitting to the dour state of Nigerian Hip-Hop ((although no one took the blame for it) and some went ahead to make promises to revive the dying culture.
M.I. offended
For this reason alone, M.I should have cracked a smile and set his sights on the promised period of renaissance, but the Choc City rapper took offence in N6’s comment. He didn’t seem to welcome the OAP’s comment about his song and his relevance in the Nigerian Hip-Hop sphere.
Although M.I tweeted about how N6’s reply track touched him (seemingly in a good way), the incidents that followed seems to suggest otherwise. Several Choc City figures launched attacks at the person of N6 online, accusing him of many illicit acts including charging up-and-coming artistes for the purpose of airplays.
Physical confrontation
None of these actions led to a physical confrontation. It all stayed in the media until the sad occurrence at the SDC-organised Palm Wine Music Festival in Lagos, which saw clashes between N6 and a number of Chocolate City acts. DJ Lambo was said to have confronted the OAP in the company of a battle-ready gang. M.I’s manager, Aubuchi, reportedly exchanged punches with the OAP while Loose Kaynon acted like a loose canon, by hitting the OAP and pulling him to the ground.
Although it is reported that the beef has been settled, the follow up stories suggests that there might be more accusations and maybe even more clashes. N6 referred to the beef as “unnecessary,” in one of his tweets and I totally agree with him.
The discussion should be how to speed up the recovery process of the Nigerian Hip-Hop culture, the beef between N6 & the Choc City acts is a mere distraction.
Written by Ogbeni Lagbaja
Ogbeni Lagbaja is a character created by a man who used to be an atheist; a man who was once in love, a man who once doubted himself. He can be reached via writelagbaja@gmail.com