uche87:
Let's go straight to the point because I want to make this as brief as possible. The grievance between rappers Vector and M.I is actually a good thing. Nobody is pulling a gun on his rival and I believe there will be no bloodshed. Both parties are actually well-educated gentlemen. Beef is part of the rap game and nutritionists will also tell you how proteinous that can be especially in a country like Nigeria where people don’t eat a balanced diet.

Hip Hop in Nigeria is dead. It's like a forbidden genre of music right now. Ace producer Don Jazzy some years back converted his rappers like Ikechukwu, Dr Sid and D'Prince to singers because he believed it was difficult to market rap music in Nigeria. Doing dancehalls or what we call 'commercial' in our local parlance rakes in the money faster. Rapper Eedris Abdulkareem made money and became famous by apparently 'speaking in tongues' on songs and Kennis Music projected him as the best thing since sliced bread. At that point, Ruggedman did the real thing and stayed local to the doctrines of the game but failed. He spiced up his rap with a total switch from Queens English to Pidgin and then went after Eedris. He exposed his weaknesses and stole his shine. Modenine also made attempts to dethrone Ruggedman. Ruggedman was obviously inferior to Modenine lyrically so the former shifted to pop music a little bit to focus on the money. While Ruggedman enjoyed his windfall, Modenine also earned a few bucks from his sweat. Overdose, Terry Tha Rapman, Pherowshuz and iLLBliss were other players in the Hip Hop world with strong ties to Modenine.

The Hip Hop game was progressive as the casuals and hardcore rap fans knew which music artistes they had to listen to for maximum satisfaction. When M.I arrived at the music scene and dropped his debut album ‘Talk About It’ in the year 2008, he was all over the place. He corrected the lapses of Ruggedman and rapped with lines that were easily relatable. With the advent of M.I, thousands of Nigerian young ladies who never fancied Hip Hop loved his rhymes and flows that they became fans of rap music.

It would be recalled that several Nigerians felt Modenine's lines were too deep and abstract, people had to literally employ lecturers in literature to decipher them. M.I apparently had no rival; he was like a god. The late Da Grin later came on board in 2010 after being underground for a long while to tell the Nigerian story in the indigenous Yoruba language. Nobody really thought that style would work but it did. Well, he was not the pioneer of that style considering Lord of Ajasa too who was there before him. Kelly Hansome, Iceberg Slim, A-Q and other rappers wanted M.I's spot. These notable figures attacked him openly and he responded. Yes, it made the Hip Hop game so fun and brought out the best of most guys. I still listen to 'Somebody Wants To Die', Nobody Test Me, Beef by M.I and others till date. Kelly gave M.I a run for his money. It was stunning that Kelly Hansome, a natural singer could take on a rapper and give him a bloody nose. M.I's dominance birthed several rappers like Ice Prince, Jesse Jagz, Loose Kaynon, Yung6ix and other dopeheads who I can't mention due to limitations of time and space. Vector also appeared on the music scene while the show was all about the ‘short black boy from J-Town’.

Olamide later replaced Da Grin but the dude wasn't interested in being the king of rap, he just wanted to make money. He delved into singing and made an instant impact. Meanwhile, M.I also toned down his rap in his second album to make it more marketable. He was focusing on money, a step down from his 'Illegal Music mixtapes' and his first album. As Olamide soared in success, rap music was the sacrificial lamb; that genre of music was severely polluted. Olamide was interested in catchy sounds and rhythm laced with lyrical emptiness. The era of hard drugs and alcohol epidemic in Nigeria in which people don't realize what they listen to but dance helped the career of Olamide. Even Skales took to his heels and embraced singing and he got the instant results with a better life. M.I faded away gradually, even Vector and others who had better music skills couldn't hold it down for Hip Hop. M.I made a comeback track in 2017 titled; ‘You Rappers Should Fix Up Your Lives’ trying to diss all Nigerian rappers for failing to dethrone him but nobody took the bait. He was wearing a crown nobody seemed to need. Other rappers were busy trying to deal with the hard economic conditions inflicted by the new government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Only a man that has eaten will have the energy to rap in the studios. It took Cassper Nyovest of South Africa to remind Nigerians that we were now actually lagging behind in Hip Hop as he alluded to the view of M.I on the dire state of Hip Hop in Nigeria.

So, M.I dropped a few songs that didn't do quite well and the diminutive rapper went on performing old songs from his reigning days to keep body and soul together. He gave the audience the nostalgic feelings and it worked for him but he wasn't on high demand in the entertainment industry.
The long-term term beef between M.I and Vector has had a positive effect which is that it has given M.I the attention he needed to reaffirm his status as the king of rap in Africa and also revive rap music in Nigeria. He dropped his diss song titled 'The Viper' and it started trending on social media for hours. That kind of unprecedented publicity is what politicians even fail to get after paying millions of naira. He got it on a platter of gold!

Vector's other attacks on him have also gained serious traction online. I feel this is a good thing; life and providence have handed both parties second chances. M.I and Vector are off the market but they have much quality to offer the Nigerian music industry. They finally have the ears of the core rap fans and the casuals. It's time for them to feed out of it and put Nigeria on the rap map again.

Both responses have come with limited flavours and lyrical strengths. It appears Vector forced some of his rap lines to make sense. They are not coming naturally. From the look of things, Vector might be releasing his songs with a manual to help us understand them. This wasn't far from the reason why he dropped the lyrics of his song in the form of a video explaining them on M.I's birthday. I would have loved to break them down but this article might become a textbook. M.I has also confirmed my fears that he is far-spent as he left rap to focus on what Nigerian bloggers do; tell bland and unfounded stories rather than show his lyrical strengths, depth and rap skills we know his brand for. M.I also borrowed some ideas from Nollywood by dramatizing the whole thing with sounds, effects and religious practices. He needs to understand the basis of the beef. it's more about competition, not real jealousy or hatred; rap is a game of superiority. Every rapper believes he is the best just like we have in boxing too. Even the historic animosity between legendary boxers Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier later died when they both left the sporting scene. This is not personal, it's about the game and the love and language of it. Let them make history as they are at the twilight of their careers already. A last bold statement will make a difference and help inspire the younger generation.

Vector is jeering up to bomb M.I again and I hope we can see an improved version of him. I have a feeling M.I might not respond again. He has nothing to lose but much to gain. My advice is that both parties should focus more on metaphors, wordplays and other parts of lyricism as against attacking their personal lives. Let's enjoy this while they get back into the game and make final statements.

As for who is winning, the game is winning. We have all missed interesting beef in Nigeria. It has a way of bringing excitements among fans, bringing the best out of the parties involved and also boosting their careers.


Osayimwen Osahon George is a journalist and a PhD student at the University of Ibadan.

Source: https://www.tori.ng/news/131800/mi-vs-vector-beef-who-is-winning-and-losing.html

VECTOR or LANRE...whatever his name is..is not MI mate in this Rap game.

pocohantas:
I don't care about their beef.

I am vegetarian...

this lady, I like you. your comments are always kinda funny.

viqSmallz:
I say this as a rap head, MI isn't winning. His response was more of being petty and reaching out to the emotions of Nigerians who generally dont have the head for good content. He towed down the line of religion and screaming for Peace and all.

Vector' s response was deep only few understood.

Both are the best rappers out of Nigerian right now with each having area of strenght. Vec -wordplay MI punches

my brother u deserve an award,you have a deep grasp of this genre of music called hip hop,unlike majority on this forum

CoachEmmanuel98:

VECTOR or LANRE...whatever his name is..is not MI mate in this Rap game.

Vector raps better than your overrated MI

Me still love Jesse jags punch lines

27Pushing30:


Drop your favorite lines from the purge and I’ll drop M.I’s response lines.

No kid yourself ... vector was “Son’d” by M.I

MI's shit is a combined effort of his crew took him like 2 weeks to come up with. He takes time to prepare his lyrics and rhymes them luckily he blew with one whack remix he was biting other artists flow "ogbonifelili I'm chilling inside ya belly" nonsense song the popular listeners like you buy that crap but I dont feel it. he has no freestyle value as we saw on Tim Westwood, Jago did all the freestyle he was checking all through the small flows he crammed.

The only MI song I know is "Baby"

Lenadiva:
Biggie is more of a hardcore rapper than Tupac .

haha you again everything bout 2pac is hardcore his style his voice his lyrics and his themes!do you even know what it means to be hard PAC was a gangster he embodied the thug life tho biggie wasn’t a soft rapper too lyrically it doesn’t come close to 2pac

MountainView:
I believe say person swear for Naija head, we live in such a gullible and unbelievable Nation called Nigeria.

At this point, one can safely say that Nigeria is now a failed state, full of Corruption and lawlessness/disorderliness.

I just don't know what I will tell my unborn children how we came to the point we are now.

I pray we won't tell them we were here supporting Tacha/BBNaija and M.I and Vector Beef, while someone like Sowore who has our National interest at heart,
is in jail just because he called for a revolution which we all, including our keyboard warriors, would benefit from, and no one is doing anything about it.




Like Kanu would say we live like animals and the name of our zoo is called "Nigeria"

my 2 cents, though

Nigerians don't know better. The people who should be demanding for a better Nigeria have not been given the education and value system that would make them see that demanding Sowore's freedom is a more worthy cause than worrying about who wins $60 million on Big Brother. The young people who are interested in MI & Tacha's destiny grew up with no examples, no reference point from where they understand what their role in society is...We grew up in corruption, nepotism and bad governance. We grew up watching police take bribes from bus drivers, our parents paying for WAEC "special centres" and our lecturers selling handouts for grades. How could we possibly know better? Political Consciousness , like racism, is not inherent in us, it is learnt from the older people around us. The "Country" is you and me. Unfortunately, unlike our western counterparts, we are not equipped with the knowledge of history and selflessness that would make us as a people demand for a better life.

The ship sinking faster, so abled bodies to the
Oars
If we don't be the change, it'll stay the way it is
They say we're scared to die, we're really scared
To live

MI Abaga

Mi should have just send Jesse jags to reply vector.

Lies bro, big time lies

This writ up without phyno is Like a white rice without STEW

ThisIsOutlaw:



I love this article, so good. It's like you just penned down my mind, and I sure hope good music gets back to good old days and be appreciated. Tired of these noise making folks for a long time

Abi na,Na Dagrin way die na real naija hip hop died with the guy jare!na mumble singing rappers and commercial rap singers we get now who decide to rap occasionally

DonBenny77:

MI's shit is a combined effort of his crew took him like 2 weeks to come up with. He takes time to prepare his lyrics and rhymes them luckily he blew with one whack remix he was biting other artists flow "ogbonifelili I'm chilling inside ya belly" nonsense song the popular listeners like you buy that crap but I dont feel it. he has no freestyle value as we saw on Tim Westwood, Jago did all the freestyle he was checking all through the small flows he crammed.

The only MI song I know is "Baby"

Why are you typing ??

Before now I use to hear that short people are problematic, I never believe until mI snake came out... Vector all the way.

MountainView:
I believe say person swear for Naija head, we live in such a gullible and unbelievable Nation called Nigeria.

At this point, one can safely say that Nigeria is now a failed state, full of Corruption and lawlessness/disorderliness.

I just don't know what I will tell my unborn children how we came to the point we are now.

I pray we won't tell them we were here supporting Tacha/BBNaija and M.I and Vector Beef, while someone like Sowore who has our National interest at heart,
is in jail just because he called for a revolution which we all, including our keyboard warriors, would benefit from, and no one is doing anything about it.

There was indeed a country

Like Kanu would say we live like animals and the name of our zoo is called "Nigeria"

my 2 cents, though

Permit me to share on other platform!

Iretii0511:
MI dumb fans are really dumb sha. The whole textbook their chairman wrote as a reply to tetracycline contain miserable 8 bars. All he did was lie and appealed to their emotion. Their chairman who wants to collect what belong to his son and turn around to say he is mature is really sick in his brain. Their chairman said he has always rated Lanre but has been claiming dude is wack on a number of occassion, their useless chairman claim Lanre is jealous but was the only rapper that rushed to social media page to yarn dust about
someone just because he free styled for 2 hours(Something he couldn't do). Their chairman want's to spend 20mill (audio money) on someone else while he couldn't do same for his own brother. Abeg let me stop here as dumb fans will always be dumb sha

Baba.Brymo and Jesse Jags chose their path.They are not kids.They made thier decision to leave.I remember MI sang a song asking for forgiveness and telling his brother to come back.

A beg who is winning

GuestLog:
Permit me to share on other platform!

Sure, you can.

pocohantas:
I don't care about their beef.

I am vegetarian...

Puffin that "white" powder and "green" leaves

I am Nigerian...

M.I. is JOStified.baba ni fada n je!

viqSmallz:
I say this as a rap head, MI isn't winning. His response was more of being petty and reaching out to the emotions of Nigerians who generally dont have the head for good content. He towed down the line of religion and screaming for Peace and all.

Vector' s response was deep only few understood.

Both are the best rappers out of Nigerian right now with each having area of strenght. Vec -wordplay MI punches

Oil dey your head.
It's just a story.
Lemme search for one of my comments in a group on the day the rap was released.
MODIFIED: Found it.

penocrat1:


Baba.Brymo and Jesse Jags chose their path.They are not kids.They made thier decision to leave.I remember MI sang a song asking for forgiveness and telling his brother to come back.

If they had a good life with him at CC I very much doubt they will leave in the first place.

The case of all feud should not be who is winning or who is losing, I no the whole things is doing more good to the industry, but Mi is to petty. The bro has use most of his energy to just feel himself, self acclaim goat . What about if we push him a little to see the tomb of Jah is empty will he humble himself to see wisdom. Mi is a great rapper that is true.

until I see the odds given to both rappers on Bet9ja before I can take una serious.


I wan carry straight winning and handicap.

M.I. is JOStified

Na part of your thesis be this write-up



Beef is part of the rap game and nutritionists will also tell you how proteinous that can be especially in a country like Nigeria where people don’t eat a balanced diet.

This line funny

MountainView:
I believe say person swear for Naija head, we live in such a gullible and unbelievable Nation called Nigeria.

At this point, one can safely say that Nigeria is now a failed state, full of Corruption and lawlessness/disorderliness.

I just don't know what I will tell my unborn children how we came to the point we are now.

I pray we won't tell them we were here supporting Tacha/BBNaija and M.I and Vector Beef, while someone like Sowore who has our National interest at heart,
is in jail just because he called for a revolution which we all, including our keyboard warriors, would benefit from, and no one is doing anything about it.

There was indeed a country

Like Kanu would say, we live like animals and the name of our zoo is called "Nigeria"

my 2 cents, though

my sister we should pray to leave this country fa...I tire for our youth matters!

So this is brief in your own terms

DonBenny77:


For your information we are not most people we are uncommon.

You are wrong I downloaded and listened to the purge. I can't download MI's ahit with my precious MB.
MI ain't no rapper

You know nothing Jon Snow

MountainView:
I believe say person swear for Naija head, we live in such a gullible and unbelievable Nation called Nigeria.

At this point, one can safely say that Nigeria is now a failed state, full of Corruption and lawlessness/disorderliness.

I just don't know what I will tell my unborn children how we came to the point we are now.

I pray we won't tell them we were here supporting Tacha/BBNaija and M.I and Vector Beef, while someone like Sowore who has our National interest at heart,
is in jail just because he called for a revolution which we all, including our keyboard warriors, would benefit from, and no one is doing anything about it.

There was indeed a country

Like Kanu would say, we live like animals and the name of our zoo is called "Nigeria"

my 2 cents, though

Why don't you call for the revolution if you some much care about the future, as not to type on nl and facebook everyday, sowore has tried, why dont you continue from where he stopped.
Mind you sowore never call for revolution but a protest tag 'revolution now'.

Lenadiva:
What about Biggie

The greatest rapper, past, present and future is Marshall Mathers. Case closed

pocohantas:
I don't care about their beef.

I am vegetarian...

Mad metaphors