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  • It’s funny how one song can spark a debate about which musician is the best and who’s not. That’s exactly what happened after rappers A-Q and Blaqbonez dropped their new single, “Who’s Really Rapping,” on Friday, June 20, 2025.

    The Nigerian hip-hop community has been buzzing ever since, largely due to a heated exchange between Blaqbonez and OdumoduBlvck—an issue Odumodu has described as personal. The clash has surprised some fans, considering the duo’s history of collaboration on tracks like “DOLLERZ” (2023), “TESLA BOY” (2023), and “TECHNICIAN” (2024). Still, for others, the tension has been a long time coming, with whispers of friction between their camps circulating for a while now.

    Fans and spectators don’t seem too bothered by whether this is a personal matter or not—they just want smoke. They’re calling for lyrical warfare, not rants and subtweets in all caps.

    Whether you’re just catching up or deep in the drama, here’s everything you need to know.

    February 7, 2025: OdumoduBlvck calls EZIOKWU the greatest hip hop album

    On February 7, 2025, a clip of OdumoduBlvck on Adesope ‘Shopsydoo’ Olajide’s podcast, The Afrobeats Podcast, where he said that not one of his contemporaries has made an album like his 2023’s EZIOKWU, went viral on X. In the excerpt of the podcast, OdumoduBlvck said, “All the rappers in the Hip-Hop space, they should bring their albums together, join all of them together. Pick the best hits on each album. Compile them into one project, it’s not beating EZIOKWU.”

    He also said that he was making his conclusion based on the hits of the moment and not any rapper’s discography. “It’s just like me coming out to come and hide behind the concept of consistency. You can’t hide behind the concept of consistency. I get am before no be property. You must show work now,” he said.

    After he faced backlash, he came online and doubled down on his comments, saying that “my legacy will not be truncated.”

    February 7, 2025: Blaqbonez responds

    Later that day, rapper Blaqbonez quoted the visualiser for his song “Consistency”, and said: “THIS IS CONSISTENCY, say it for those in the back, for the ignorant, it burnsss!” Fans of Nigerian Hip Hop received the post from Blaqbonez as a diss on OdumoduBlvck’s statement about musicians hiding behind the concept of consistency.

    “Blaq VS OD? I’m here for it,” one fan posted on X. “Odumodublvck to reply in 3…2…1,” someone else said. 

    April 2025: OdumoduBlvck throws a middle finger at the Headies

    During OdumoduBlvck’s performance at the Headies Awards in April, Odumodu gave the audience a middle finger (fuck you), and some observers said he did it in the direction of Blaqbonez and his crew, who were also at the award ceremony.

    June 21, 2025: All breaks loose

    Fast forward to the release of the “Who’s Really Rapping” song by Blaqbonez and rapper A-Q last week. OdumoduBlvck made a series of posts on X, attacking the song and Blaqbonez. “Tell that old fool that Odumodu is really rapping,” one of the posts read.

    In another post, he said, “WHO VEX SMIGGLE?” referencing to the Lord of the Rings character. He also said, “A-FOOL,” which Hip-Hop fans say is a play on A-Q. He also mentioned a rapper who made a deal they can’t get out of and is now trying to “use my name to sell records.” Even though he didn’t direct that post at any rapper in particular, fans were quick to say it was directed at Blaqbonez.

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    After fans asked OdumoduBlvck to drop a diss track to address the situation, his response was, “Make Kendrick go dey battle Ace Hood.” He later added that he wasn’t interested in “rap beef.” “I no dey do rap beef with una,” he said.

    June 21, 2025:  Blaqbonez responded

    After Blaqbonez congratulated Olamide and praised his new album, Olamide, he added that he was not sure he could have a 15-year career in the industry, but fans should take what he had to offer.

    But after a fan replied to him, saying he hopes he doesn’t die, he seized the opportunity to address the matter with Odumodu in a thinly veiled post. 

    “Them say them go kill me, but I don record enough for 3 more albumss, no fear, because rap actually hard for some people,” he posted.

    June 22, 2025:  Odumodu and Blaqbonez in open brawl

    OdumoduBlvck, who had not directly addressed Blaq, quoted the post on X, saying: “If rap hard for me your last hit no go dey with me,” referencing their 2024 collaboration, ”TECHNICIAN.” “I am everything you want to be nigga,” he added.

    Blaqbonez ignored Odumodu’s post and made a new one in which he said, “Been hot since I step into the game. Everlasting taker.” 

    OdumoduBlvck quoted it the post saying, “You are not taking anything nigga. You are using your label. Nobody book for shows anymore. Me replying you is what you need for your career. And I will give you because you have mouths to feed.”

    Blaqbonez fired back in a counter-post, challenging Odumodu to a lyrical spar: “Enter studio & get tf out my mentions. This no be Twitter warfare & stop calling the show industry crying about me. No be so Kendrick Lamar dey do. Hip-Hop legacy.”

    OdumoduBlvck declined the offer, saying, “You want to make it about studio. Na lie. We go meet again for street. You know the level. This is not a rap beef. Na me and you for this world.”

    At the time of this reporting, Blaqbonez had stopped posting on X, but OdumoduBlvck made several other posts. A-Q also hasn’t responded directly to OdumoduBlvck, but he made a post saying, “It’s funny how one verse can fxxk up the game…”

    June 23, 2025: OdumoduBlvck tells Blaqbonez to leave Best Rapper conversations

    In a clip from an interview with EDK of Jusmen Radio, posted on Monday morning, OdumoduBlvck openly called out Blaqbonez, telling him to stop calling himself the best rapper. “Do you know what it is to say you’re the Best Rapper in Nigeria? Stop joking. You’re not the Best Rapper. M.I is the Best Rapper. Vector is the Best Rapper. If you are the Best Rapper, you would have won the Best Rap Album of the Year. You were not even nominated for Best Rap Single,” he said.

    “So, for me to come and say that I’m the best rapper, that means I have to be the best rapper. But if you’re not, stop saying it. It’s getting on my nerves bro. You can get smacked in the face for saying that type of shit,” he added.

    What fans are saying..

    Some fans have gone on to dig OdumoduBlvck’s old tweets, giving props to Blaqbonez and A-Q on different occasions:

    At Blaqbonez’s show, OdumoduBlvck performed his hit “DECLAN RICE” for the first time:

    https://twitter.com/Odumodublvck_/status/1640713677145014274

    OdumoduBlvck admitting that he copied Blaqbonez’s game plan for his music:

    OdumoduBlvck giving A-Q props:

    OdumoduBlvck quoting an A-Q lyrics on his timeline:

    Some fans are excited that a rap beef between two big rappers will serve them, while the rest are unimpressed by the whole drama.

     This is a developing story.

    ALSO READ: Pastor Paul Adefarasin and the Stun Gun Saga: A Complete Timeline

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  • It starts with a beat. A stupidly good one. Before you know it, you’re singing and rapping along, word for word. Then you hear the line — the one where he calls women out by their names, for sport.

    You pause. Then you don’t. Because the song slaps. But your brain is already spiralling: “Can I call myself a feminist and still vibe to this?”

    This is the dilemma many listeners with feminist views face when they come across misogynistic lyrics, tweets and statements from musicians like OdumoduBlvck. It’s a tension many feminists have to navigate daily if they want to keep vibing to rap music.

    Isn’t it worth a second thought when you read on his X feed, “Women should not be allowed to act like rabid dogs because they know they can’t be spanked.” Or that, “Not all beating is abuse. I agree that some parents abuse their kids. No one loves me more than my mother. No one. She beat me when I was little. I put aloe vera in my housemaid’s vagina. I dey mad?”

    I asked Salawa*, a feminist who also enjoys OdumoduBlvck’s music, what it means to constantly renegotiate the terms of her values with her taste in music. The answer, it turns out, is a complex one. 

    This is Salawa’s story as told to Tomide

    I first heard about OdumoduBlvck, the person, on my X timeline sometime in 2021 — the same year I discovered his music. His charisma was undeniable, and that’s what initially caught my attention. I tilted towards his music after I heard Alpha Ojini’s “Vigilante Bop,” which he’s featured on.

    My first reaction was, “What type of audacity is this? Why is he so lewd? Ewww.” But at the same time, I couldn’t help thinking, “Why is he so good?” I remember getting goosebumps when I heard his verse on that track. My brother introduced me to the song when he randomly played it in the kitchen one day, and I was instantly intrigued. I added the song to my library, and I have been actively listening to his music ever since.

    It seems like he’s innovating a new sound that’s hard to copy because of its uniqueness. I remember watching him perform at Show Dem Camp’s Palmwine Fest in 2022. His crude personality was obvious then, but it wasn’t an ick…yet. It felt more like an accessory to his showmanship. Everything fit quite nicely, including the Igbo cap — until I started seeing some of his opinions on Twitter.

    As a feminist, I hold certain values that don’t align with his kind of persona: that women deserve dignity and respect, that we are equal to men, and that stereotypes are harmful and untrue. 

    OdumoduBlvck once joked about putting a woman in her place by hitting her. I understand there was some context to it — he was referring to a woman who had beaten up a child. But in the now-deleted tweet, he said, “Women should not be allowed to act like rabid dogs because they know they can’t be spanked. There’s a difference between a good spanking and a good beating. No! Don’t punch her. That’s too much. A nice, ordinary Ahmed combo is a good resting device for those who are foolish.”

    There’s a dismissive tone to that tweet, but even worse is how it endorses violence, reducing all women to a single entity and stripping us of individuality, as if we are undeserving of regard or respect.

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    That said, I don’t think this behaviour is rooted in a deliberate desire to be wicked. I think it’s the result of a deeply ingrained social conditioning that’s been upheld for a very long time. That’s why I don’t listen to “Cast” by Shallipoppi and Odumodu. I’ve never sung along to that infamous line. I can never dance to it either. It just can’t happen. But again, when I’m with the people whose opinions I rate, there’s no scrutiny, we’re just having a good time.

    I carefully select his songs that I listen to. I regularly put “Commend” on repeat. As a matter of fact, I need to play it right now. I like it because he references consensual sex, one of my core principles. But also because it’s a damn good song.

    If you’re wondering whether I have tried to hide the fact that I listen to him: no, not really. Unfortunately, all my friends are hypocrites like me. I’ve never hidden the songs I listen to in real life. We play everything when we link: house parties or even at work, when it’s just us Black folks around. I’ve done that many times. My friends are mostly like me. There are only a few reasons we’ll refuse to play a good song. (Naira Marley, however, is a no-go)

    But on the internet, it’s a different story. I think that social media has become so polarising over time that it feels like a literal minefield. People are quick to brand anyone anything based on their preferences or opinions. The idea that a person can be multifaceted or multi-dimensional is not something the internet accepts. If you listen to Odumodu, you must be a misogynist. You don’t like Beyoncé, you must be a pick-me. (For the record, I love Beyoncé.)

    I’m not saying he’s a good artist or praising his music to show anybody that I’m gang. It’s just me doing the little that I can to practice what I stand for. If it gets worse, like allegations of assault or crime, I can easily stop playing the guy altogether. But for now, avoiding his disrespectful songs is the least I can do to practice my feminism.

    ALSO READ: 12 Nigerians On Separating the Art From the Artist

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