Nigerian singer Okafor Uchenna Victor, popularly known as Mr Real, has voiced his frustration over what he described as the growing rate of intellectual property theft in the country’s music industry.
The Legbegbe crooner said that Afrobeats lacks originality, claiming that a large number of songs and ideas in the genre are copied from other artists without proper credit.
Speaking in a recent interview with Hip TV, Mr Real stated that the issue is most common among upcoming musicians, who often lack the platform and fan base to defend their creative work.
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“Stealing of songs happens more between upcoming artists and top artistes, but the upcoming no get fans to speak for them,” he said in Pidgin. “There’s no original song in Afrobeats. Even the one shouting ‘they stole my song’ don still copy person own.”
He added that even some veteran musicians who frequently accuse others of theft are not entirely innocent.
“Blackface dey always complain say dem steal him song. But even he don still use person own before,” Mr Real alleged.
Addressing recent rumours that Rema may have copied Omah Lay’s creative ideas, the singer suggested that such incidents are possible in today’s fast-paced industry, where artists are constantly drawing from similar inspirations.
“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,” he said.
Mr Real emphasized that the Nigerian music industry needs stronger structures to protect artists’ intellectual property rights, urging upcoming acts to remain vigilant and assertive in defending their creative efforts.
The singer, who rose to fame in 2017 with the street anthem Legbegbe, said his comments were not to discredit the Afrobeats movement but to encourage greater creativity and accountability within the industry.
