Veteran Nigerian rapper Michael Ugochukwu Stephens, popularly known as Ruggedman, has said that the essence of music goes beyond singing about themes of money, women, sex, and drugs.
Zeroing in on Nigeria, Ruggedman urged artists to draw inspiration from the country’s situation in the creative process of making music.
The veteran rapper said this while speaking in an interview with Sunday Scoop, noting that he believes music is a tool for spreading information.
He said, “There is more to music than talking about money, women, sex and drugs. From the start, I have always known music to be a way of spreading information, so that can’t change with me.
“The situation in Nigeria is more than enough to fuel any creative choice to speak through music.”
Speaking further during the interview, Ruggedman addressed the recent backlash against celebrities who were criticised for not publicly advocating for the release of social media personality, VeryDarkMan. The veteran stressed that advocacy was a personal choice that individuals must be allowed to make on their own.
The ‘Opomulero’ singer also spoke about his foray into acting, revealing that he started acting in the late 90s when he took on roles as an extra.
He said, “My going into movies didn’t start today. I featured as an extra (waka pass) in a few movies by the late Francis Agu in the late 1990s. I love movies and have always wanted to act and produce movies or TV series.”
On how he handles criticism of his decision to transition into acting, the veteran rapper explained that, as a critic himself, he’s able to see criticism as feedback and a way to learn and improve his craft.
“As a serious critic myself, I am open to and take criticism well because it’s one of the ways you learn and improve. I definitely love the praises too because it means one is doing well,” he said.
In February, Ruggedman, who is 51 years old, revealed why he’s still not a husband or father.
On not being a father, the rapper explained that he’d vowed not to have a child out of wedlock when he was much younger, and he is still keeping that vow. On not being married, Ruggedman said that although he’s not averse to marriage, he’s not yet found the right person.
