Music star Okafor Uchenna Victor, popularly known as Mr Real, has voiced his frustration over the widespread issue of intellectual property theft within the Nigerian music industry.
The “Legbegbe” hitmaker lamented that Afrobeats lacks originality, alleging that many of the songs and creative ideas circulating in the genre are copied from others.
According to him, emerging artists suffer the most from this problem, as they rarely receive justice or attention due to their limited influence and lack of a strong support system.
Mr Real also pointed out the hypocrisy among veteran artists, noting that even those who frequently speak against song theft such as Blackface have allegedly used other people’s intellectual property without consent.
During a recent chat with Hip TV, the singer weighed in on the claims that Rema stole Omah Lay’s intellectual property, admitting that such an incident is possible given how the Nigerian music scene currently operates.
“Blackface dey always complain say dem steal him song. Afrobeats no get original songs, even Rema fit steal Omah Lay song. You see idea wey bad if you no sharp, omo boys go run am. No time.
“Stealing of songs happens more between upcoming artists & top artistes but the upcoming no get fans to speak for them. There’s no original song in Afrobeats. Even the one shouting ‘they stole my song’ don still copy person own,” he said in Pidgin.