Ruggedman, the ace Nigerian rapper, has claimed that singer 9ice utilized rumors about his affair with Tony Payne, his ex-wife, to sell his album.
During a recent episode of the WithChude podcast, the rapper discussed his long-standing feud with 9ice.
9ice and Payne married in 2008, but split up in 2011.
In 2010, reports circulated that Ruggedman had an affair with 9ice’s wife.
Following the uproar, 9ice released an album titled ‘Tradition’. 9ice recounted his boyfriend and friend’s romance in the album’s song ‘Once Bitten Twice Shy’.
The lines sparked debate, with many claiming that the person he was referring to was Ruggedman.
During a recent interview, Ruggedman admitted that he introduced Payne to 9ice.
The rapper stated that when rumors of the romance spread, he requested 9ice to address it, but the singer declined.
He stated he was surprised when 9ice informed him that “everybody should go and defend whatever they want to defend,” meaning that he was not ready to let the story go down.
“Let me tell you something, when I heard the song, I knew what he was talking about. He was talking about one of his exes and this was like two years before I introduced him to Toni Payne,” he said.
“I remember clearly I took him to Minna and I noticed he had a long face, he was not himself at some point. He finally opened up that he walked in on his then-girlfriend giving his friend a b*****b and I was like woah. That was the last I had heard about the matter till that song, so I knew who he was talking about…
“I called him, he picked and we hailed each other and I was like this your song you released people are misunderstanding it, they are thinking you are talking about your wife and me. He was like of course not now and I said yes, I know it is not about me but this is what they are saying.
“The best you can just do is get your manager to do a press release and say this is what’s up. To me, I was saying this because this was my friend I was talking to but I was shocked when he said no.
“… I was like it is not the press, it is my fans and yours. He was still like I know, that everybody should go and defend themselves, that he does not have time.”
The 50-year-old said he felt betrayed by 9ice because he “threw me and his wife under the bus” so he could “sell CDs”.
“Then it dawned on me that when his ‘Tradition’ album came out, that album was not moving until that rumor started,” he said.
“A lot of people went out to buy the album because they wanted to hear the part where he said Ruggedman and his wife.
“It really hurt me when I felt like he was throwing me and his wife under the bus just so he could sell CDs. That was the betrayal part, he even went as far as doing a song to diss me.”
In 2020, Payne maintained that she never cheated on the singer as alleged in some quarters.