A Lagos radio presenter said I can’t make it in the music industry rapping in Igbo? Rapper Illbliss recounts

Veteran rapper Illbliss has opened up about a discouraging encounter he had with a Lagos radio presenter early in his music career.

Speaking during a recent episode of the Real Shareholders podcast, the rapper revealed that when he was still an underground act trying to break into the Lagos music scene, a radio presenter bluntly told him he wouldn’t succeed because he rapped in Igbo.

According to Illbliss, the incident happened shortly after he released a track titled Igbo Boy. “Then, a radio presenter called me and said, ‘What are you trying to do? You can’t make it here. You’ve come here with an agenda. Omo-Igbo.’ Then he broke off into fluid Yoruba.”

Illbliss said the comment left him speechless and hurt. The song in question, according to him, was simply celebrating Igbo people and their love for enjoyment — not a diss or political statement.

“The music is good, but it won’t go far,” the presenter reportedly told him.

He went on to reflect on how that moment exposed the tribal divisions that still exist beneath the surface in Nigeria.

“Just looking at that guy, it made me feel terrible. And it made me feel that we can disguise all we want about being one nation, but the tribal divisions are incredible to handle.”