July 11, (THEWILL) — Nigerian singer Michael Adebayo Olayinka, popularly known as Ruger, has shed light on the hurdles he faced following his controversial departure from Jonzing World in 2024.
Speaking on the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, the “Asiwaju” crooner revealed that leaving his former label came at a steep personal and professional cost, including backlash from fans, industry insiders, and a perceived wave of cancel culture.
“After leaving the label, there were a lot of comments,” Ruger said.
“Some people were saying, ‘This is the last year you’re going to tour,’ ‘You’re finished,’ ‘This is the end,’ and all that.”
The artist noted that many viewed him as ungrateful for parting ways with Jonzing World — a sentiment he said is commonly directed at artists who choose to walk away from their labels in Nigeria.
He said, Not everybody was willing to help me.
“The public sentiment when you leave a label in Nigeria is that you’re ungrateful. Many people don’t want to associate with that person—even those within the same industry. It happens.”
Ruger admitted that the experience took a toll on him emotionally and forced him to rebuild his career from the ground up.
“I was battling cancel culture. I had to meet a lot of people and reintroduce myself. I was doing a lot of things from scratch. It’s stressful, I’m not going to lie,” he said.
He stated, “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—even though I was down—I triumphed.”
Despite the setbacks, Ruger went on to launch his own label, Blown Boy Entertainment, in the same year—marking a new chapter in his career.
His departure from Jonzing World followed reports of a fallout with label boss D’Prince, though both parties have remained largely silent on the exact cause of the rift.
Evi Ben Ezaga writes on entertainment, culture, and trending stories.
