The Nigerian artist known as Ladipoe has responded to the controversy that arose from his recent social media post, which some interpreted as a mockery of Wizkid.
Ladipoe, who is signed to Mavin Records appeared to mock Wizkid for his statement about the state of hip hop.
Ladipoe, on his X handle, wrote, “Nigerian rappers that survived ‘hip hop is dead’ watching Afrobeat artistes go through their own.
After a fan alerted Wizkid to the post, he reacted by saying, “Lol, never chatting with anyone signed to an influencer. Next.”
Furthermore, he retweeted two posts that implied he was referencing the influential figure Don Jazzy, the head of Mavin Records.
Wizkid’s indirect criticism of Don Jazzy led to widespread criticism on various social media platforms, with numerous public figures such as comedians Mr Macaroni and Nasboi, as well as reality TV personalities Doyin and Tacha, condemning him for showing disrespect towards the Mavin Records executive.
In a recent interview with Cool FM in Lagos, Ladipoe expressed his amusement at the commotion and clarified that his original post had been significantly misinterpreted.
He said, “The whole thing was a joke. Hip-hop artists have been through this time when there was a faux narrative that hip-hop I’d dead. And now, you are getting the same whispers about Afrobeats. Once again, I think that they are just as ridiculous and false as at the time they were saying hip-hop is dead.
“So my tweet was like, ‘Okay, you guys [Afrobeats singers], we [rappers] went through our own [hard times]. Don’t worry, this too shall pass.’
“I was more like a joke like we went through ours, now you are going through yours. That was the joke. If there’s anybody it was aimed at, it is more aimed at the audience or anybody who believes these narratives. Who are you to say any genre is dead?
“That was the whole intention behind the joke. Any other interpretation of it is something I didn’t anticipate. I know what I was thinking when I tweeted it. I tweeted it. Went to bed. Woke up to chaos.
“To be honest, the first thing I felt when I saw all the reactions, I was amused.”