Popular Nigerian singer, Michael Olayinka, also known as Ruger, has alleged that he was blacklisted after leaving his former record label, Jonzing World.
He stated that some people thought his career was over after he left the record label.
According to him, his colleagues distanced themselves from him while his fans cancelled him during that period.
In a recent episode of the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, Ruger lamented that people were unwilling to help him because of the public sentiments attached to leaving a record label.
He said, “After leaving the label [Jonzing World], there were a lot of comments about it. Some people were saying, ‘This is the last year you’re going to tour’, ‘This is the end’, ‘You’re finished’, this and that.
“Not everybody were willing to help me because the public sentiment once you leave a label in Nigeria is that you are ungrateful. Many people don’t want to associate with that person, even those in the same industry. It happens.”
On how he bounced back, the singer said, “I was battling cancel culture. I had to meet a lot of people and reintroduce myself. I was doing a lot of things from the scratch. It’s stressful, I’m not going to lie. It’s not easy to leave a label. You have to build your own system. It was just like starting everything over again. But because I was strong inside . I was also down, but I was still strong. I triumphed.”