Ladipoe, the Nigerian rapper, has weighed into the ongoing feud between Wizkid and Davido.

In May, the Afrobeat heavyweights engaged in a heated war of words on X. Wizkid taunted Davido with a video of him on his knees, pleading and crying after a fan asked him to release new music. Davido also retaliated, labeling Wizkid’s career as “dead”.

Last week, Wizkid reignited their rift — after Davido announced his first single of 2024.

The ‘Made In Lagos’ hitmaker, who has been teasing his upcoming ‘Morayo’ album, also taunted Ademola Adeleke, Davido’s uncle who is governor of Osun state.

Registering his opinion on the rift in an interview with City 105.1 FM, Ladipoe expressed his admiration for both singers despite not being close to them.

The ‘Feeling’ rapper also argued that the rivalry might be “promotional tactics”, adding that both singers are too “business-minded” not to utilise the opportunity.

“Honestly, I have no idea. And why I say so is because this is not the first time that there has been something like this between these two juggernaut artistes you know. So, who is to say? And I’m not personally close to either of them to be able to look behind the veil,” he said.

“I have been somebody that has gotten to admire them from afar. I’ve definitely shaken Wizkid’s hand a couple of times. I’ve shaken David’s hand a couple of times. And in both ways, I respect them. You know what I feel? I fall into the fanbase that feels that they are just too savvy and business-minded to not one day say “pull up, Davido and Wizkid concert or Wizkid and Davido concert.

“I just feel like una dey whine me. That’s my own personal feeling: una dey whine me. They are too big to not see the business opportunity in front of them. So, that’s my take. But whether it’s real or not, who is to say? Beef for promoting stuff is an old tactic. It’s effective. I don’t love it personally, but it’s tried and tested, and it works. It’s not my preferred strategy, but it works.”

Portable earlier claimed that the singers were using the rift to stay relevant. He argued that they are no “longer marketable and relying on online rift to promote their projects”.

J Cole, the US rapper, has finally revealed why he bowed out of a feud with colleague Kendrick Lamar.

Last year, Cole, on the song ‘First Person Shooter’, suggested he, Drake, and Lamar were the current “big three” names in hip-hop.

Lamar, however, disagreed with Cole. In his verse on the song ‘Like That’, he said there was “no big three — it’s just big me”.

He also called Cole’s best verses “insubstantial” and claimed he was the “Prince to Drake’s Michael Jackson”.

In response to Lamar, Cole released a song titled ‘7 Minute Drill’, saying Lamar has “fallen off like The Simpsons”.

On the track, he also described Lamar’s latest album ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ as “tragic”.

In April, Cole apologised to Lamar for his “lame” and “goofy” response. He also said he had gotten “a thousand missed calls” and felt pressured to write a comeback.

In a recently released song titled ‘Port Antonio’, the Dreamville rapper defended his decision to step back from a rap battle with longtime friend Kendrick.

In the five-minute track released on Wednesday night, Cole argued that the people promoting the controversy wanted “blood” and publicity to profit from it.

“I pulled the plug because I’ve seen where that was ’bout to go / They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make their pockets grow / They see this fire in my pen and think I’m dodgin’ smoke / I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro / I woulda gained a foe,” he raps.

X (formerly Twitter) users every so often pit artists against each other to drive engagement or ignite a popularity contest.

On Friday, October 4, 2024, a user with the handle @TheDamiForeign posted images of Nigerian indigenous rappers, Olamide and Phyno with an open-ended question thrown to the public.

The post read, “When it comes to rap, who’s the GOAT? Phyno, Olamide.” Not long after, it began to attract comments from netizens. Some argued that both acts are relevant and phenomenal in their own way. Others pitched their tent with either of the two.

However, the ‘Do I’ crooner was displeased on seeing the post and wasted no time in expressing his disapproval.

Responding to the post, he wrote, “Yo!!! Tf is wrong with u guys for God sake .. stop putting me up against my brother or anybody else for that matter . Do your banter with someone else .. na ala adi agba unu.. wtf.”