Dark Side of Feud among Afrobeats Stars

Since the dawn of hip-hop, trading insults has been a common feature among rappers.  The East Coast –West Coast hip hop rivalry that saw feuds among artistes in the United States in the nineties, which led to the death of persons such as Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur shook the world. Rivalries between artistes have however not abated as in recent times the high-profile beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, among others, continues to spark intense debate.

it is not different in Nigeria. Just like previous years, 2024 saw some of the biggest feuds among the country’s Afrobeats stars in which they openly exchanged hostilities which for the most part saw some of their supporters online go after each other, some saw it as entertainment and it intrigued some other set of audiences.

Specifically, last year saw some of Nigeria’s influential Afrobeats artistes, especially Wizkid and Davido, go after each other, which sparked division within the industry as well as among some of their respective fans. Sometimes, they got more personal than they should have and at times they stayed on wax.

The latest feud that erupted barely 72 hours into 2025, while a lot of Nigerians were still in the mood of Detty December with social media literally set on fire, was between Paschal Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest and Grammy-winning artiste, Burna Boy. The clash has drawn significant public attention.

Cubana Chief Priest is a close ally of Davido and some of his social media supporters who have been chanting “fight, fight, fight” see it as a proxy war.

Both men have thrown caution to the wind as in the past few days they have been involved in a series of heated exchanges on social media.  From Burna Boy describing the ‘celebrity bar man’ as the Owerri version of Rick Ross, an American rapper, and describing him as an “azaman,” a street slang for fraudster, to Chief Priest in return alleging that Burna Boy won his Grammy Award by being intimate with embattled American entertainer, P Diddy and that the Afrobeats star was a debtor, among others, the conflict intensified during the week.

As expected, their respective fans have taken sides in the messy fight, creating a fertile ground to breed hate and disrespect.

While feuds among artistes are normal when managed decently, they must not be allowed in any way to diminish Afrobeats rising profile across the world. Billboard recently started a chart for Afrobeats singles, and the Recording Academy recently added a brand new category, Best African Music Performance, to honour the continent’s best musicians. 2024 saw Nigerian artistes waxing stronger as they churned out great songs, and held music tours across the globe, with powerful collaborations with international stars which got global attention.

This saw Temilade Openiyi, Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer popularly known as Tems, bagging three nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards, which will be held next month in Los Angeles. With her three nominations, she joined this year’s top nominees list which Beyoncé topped with 11 nominations. The 2025 Grammy Awards nominations also have other Nigerian nominees namely Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid, Yemi Alade, Asake, and Rema.

That is why to me, it is absurd for anybody to link Burna Boy’s Grammy Award to any form of sexual relationship with P. Diddy. As a big fan of Afrobeats who has followed the Port Harcourt-born artiste’s rising trajectory, I can say that his talent earned him not just the Grammy, but also several other awards he has won over the years. Burna Boy continues to grab headlines on account of his scintillating performances across Africa, Europe and America. He became the historic first African artiste to sell out a stadium in the United Kingdom after 60,000 fans came out to see him perform at the home of West Ham Football Club. The ‘Last Last’ crooner who also sold out the 41,000-capacity Citi Field Stadium in NYC, USA, has continued to prove to critics and music lovers across Africa and the world why he deserves the self-proclaimed title of “ Africa Giant “by dishing out good music with mesmerising and sold out shows all over the world.

While it is understandable that rivalries have always been part of human nature, especially in an environment where competition is ever-present and the entertainment space cannot be an exception, it must be pointed out that if such incidences are not properly managed, their negative side may hurt the system. For instance, fans take sides whenever artistes quarrel, which can result in hate speech, cyberbullying, and internet trolling. This can foster a hostile climate for the artistes and their fans.

Also, rivalry can stifle collaboration. When artists are seen as rivals, like Burna Boy and Davido, they may be less likely to work together, even if it would benefit both of them. This can limit the creative potential of the genre and prevent it from reaching its full potential. Instead, the industry and artistes should take advantage of the opportunity to encourage lyrical competition, which will motivate everyone to compete to the best of their abilities and open doors for the industry to make more money.

No one is asking them to love and fawn over each other. They may dislike one another, but they should accord their colleagues professional respects even if they are not in good terms. This is common sense.  And fans shouldn’t die in their wars. Listen to their songs but refuse to participate in their foolishness. This new year, we hope these male artistes grow up and fix up, for their own sake.