Singer Michael Olayinka, better known by his stage name Ruger, has asserted that his contentious departure from Jonzing World, his previous record company, resulted in a blacklisting by fans and professionals in the music industry.
During that time, he said, several of his colleagues and supporters stopped supporting him.
After Ruger left the label Jonzing World, he received several remarks about it, according to a recent edition of the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast.
Many were expressing their disappointment, saying things like, "This is the last year you're going to tour," "You're finished," and similar sentiments.
Not everyone was eager to provide me a hand; apparently, leaving a label in Nigeria makes you look ungrateful in the eyes of the public.
Even among their peers in the same field, such individual has a lot of enemies. Such things do occur.
The musician explained his recovery by saying, "I was battling cancel culture." A lot of people needed to hear my name again, so I had to do that. A lot of what I did was from the ground up.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it: it's stressful. Leaving a mark isn't simple. It is up to you to construct your own system.
It was like beginning all over again. However, I was able to overcome my difficulties since I have inner strength.
After a rift with record label chief D'Prince, Ruger left Jonzing World in 2024 to launch Blown Boy Entertainment, his own company.
Thanks for reading: The moment I departed Jonzing World - Ruger, I became a wanted man