Nigerians have no respect for hip-hop – Odumodublvck

Odumodublvck, a well-known Nigerian hip-hop artist and producer whose real name is Tochukwu Ojogwu, has expressed his disappointment with the lack of respect for hip-hop music in Nigeria.

In his opinion, the genre has not received the recognition and appreciation it deserves in the country.

Despite the rapid growth of the Nigerian music industry, with Afrobeats being the most popular genre, Odumodublvck feels that hip-hop is being overlooked.

During a recent interview with the CTRL Room, the talented musician recalled a time when he was a struggling artist and was not offered seats at award ceremonies by organizers.

Additionally, Odumodublvck rejected his team’s advice to collaborate with Davido, a well-known Afrobeats singer, in order to gain fame.

Instead, he was drawn to UK grime artists whose artistic style resonated with his own.

He said;

“In 2019, someone [in my team] said we should go to Lagos and meet Davido. But I was like, ‘What will Davido do for me? Even if Davido takes me to America and puts me on stage and I’m rapping my stuff, his fans won’t understand because they are afrobeats fans.’

“But these guys: Teezee, BOJ, and Sholz, are the pipeline to the UK market. And those are the closest guys I sound like internationally. So why don’t I follow that route to get to wherever I want to get to?’

“I was like, I don’t need Davido for anything now. Let me follow people that align with my vision. And that was how we just came together and we’re here now. Number one in the country against all odds. Tell them, they’ve to respect that thing. Because we went for an award show and we didn’t even have seats. They don’t respect hip-hop in Nigeria. They don’t respect us.”

The rapper, however, admitted that he conceded to Wizkid’s controversial statement that “hip-hop is dead”, stressing “I was tremendously happy about Wizkid’s statement… Hip-Hop was dead.”