Dancehall superstar Michael Adebayo Olayinka, better known by his stage name Ruger, from Nigeria, has revealed the reasons behind his split from D’Prince’s company Jonzing World.
Ruger expressed gratitude to his old record company for bringing him to prominence, but he was unable to renew his contract because the label did not promote his brand as much as he desired.
He accused his former record label CEO, D’Prince, of abandoning him and utilizing his music earnings to seek for fresh talent.
Ranting in a series of posts on X on Thursday, Ruger said he has more to say but scared that he might get stabbed if he divulged more about the record label.
He wrote, “As much as I’m very appreciative of the fact that Jonzing world introduced me to the world, I just couldn’t continue with them because they got too comfortable with the money they were making from me and couldn’t push me further as I wanted to be pushed. Was supposed to renegotiate the contract but I couldn’t imagine 5 years more without action.
“Dey use my money Dey fund new artist, leaving me in the dark, not being transparent. I just laugh. How e be now?
I complained, I got angry, some people tell me say no be so dem Dey do things. I still go back HQ go collect fake hugs and handshakes. Nothing still change. I wan mad.
“Many things to to talk but dem fit go wait for me for ikoyi link bridge stab me wotowoto.”
The ‘Asiwaju’ hitmaker had announced his new record label named ‘Blown Boy Entertainment’ in January. He also adjusted his profile names on social media to reflect the new label.
In an Instagram post, he said he was grateful to Jonzing World and D’Prince but it was time for him to take a bet on himself.
In 2021, Ruger rose to stardom under Jonzing World, a label owned by Nigerian singer D’Prince, which is an affiliate of Don Jazzy’s Mavin Records.
Ruger has won several awards for his craft. In same 2021, he won the AFRIMA best newcomer award, and also the best new artiste category at the 2023 Soundcity MVP Awards.
Ruger has also swept some of the major awards, including the Best New act in Africa at the 2022 prestigious Afrima awards.
He also has two extended plays (EPs) to his name titled ‘Pandemic’ (2021) and ‘Second Wave’ (2022).
On 16 November 2022, Ruger returns with a new chest-thumping tune capsule, consisting of two songs titled ‘Red Flags’ & Asiwaju, which upon release trended on every social media platforms.
Asiwaju peaked at number 1 on Nigeria’s Apple Music Top Songs chart and spent a record-breaking one month in the history of the chart.
Last September, he came through with his debut album, ‘RU The World’.