RMG, the artiste management/record label that handles
Munachi Abii, have released a statement in reaction to the viral video where
Muna is seen to be arguing with Mode 9 during the final of ‘Nokia Don’t Break
The Beat” Competition’.
Muna is seen to oppose Mode 9′s verdict on TKO, one of the
contestants and she makes her point boldly and emphatically. Mode 9 doesn’t
take it lightly and repeats severally to Muna that he is an experienced hip hop
head and that is why he is the chief judge on the reality show. The former MBGN
however kept telling him to pass the microphone.
The issue has been the subject of varying reactions on blogs
and social media, since the video from Nigezie found its way onto the Internet.
Now her management company has released a statement which reads:
“To Whom It May Concern.
It has come to my attention that the unfortunate incident
that occurred at the Nokia “Don’t Break The Beat” competition on Saturday the
28th of April 2012, where RMG artiste Muna was a Presenter, and Nigerian rap
icon Mode 9 was a Judge, has turned into a media/blog frenzy.
This unfortunate misunderstanding happened on stage, and the
verbal exchange between Muna and Mode 9, even though it started out as opinions
quickly escalated into what I’m sure we all have seen in the clip posted on the
Internet by Nigezie.
Mode 9 and Muna did not have any pre-existing
misunderstanding or “beef” before the Nokia event. Muna’s brief as a Presenter,
aside introducing the Contestants and asking the Judges for their remarks and
scores, was to add more banter to the judging process, this she had done very
well and incident free throughout the Zonal “rap battles” in cities like Lagos,
Enugu, Benin and Abuja.
As Muna’s management, we are duty bound to take care of this
situation professionally, issue statements and all that, but as I’m in a privileged
position and I know all parties involved personally, including co-judges Rogba
(CEO, Knighthouse) and DJ Jimmy Jatt, I had called everyone involved to sort
out this unfortunate issue amongst ourselves the morning after the incident.
The clip of the incident surfacing on the Internet only just re-ignited what
we’ve been trying to diffuse since the very next day.
Like I said, we all have seen the video clip, and the
interviews that followed, and of course the onslaught of comments on the
internet, the justified, the objective, the insults, the threats of violence
and of course a few sensible and supportive ones as well. Time will tell if
Muna and Mode 9 trending on Twitter would prove to be a good thing and we’ll
all get together and laugh about it later.
Muna is a fast rising talent in the rap game, this was
recognized by Nokia who gave her the opportunity to appear in their TV
commercial and also present the “Don’t Break The Beat” competition which was a
massive success. The brand also showed some street cred by employing the
undisputed knowledge of rap in appointing Mode 9 as the Head Judge at the
Finals. We would like to thank Nokia and the team at YDx for putting together a
successful competition.
Lastly, I would like to reiterate that this issue will not
be resolved publicly and played out in the media or on blog pages for the
amusement and enjoyment of gossip junkies and gist merchants. I’m sorry to
disappoint those who are waiting with their mouths open, there will be no
leaked emails, back and forth exclusive interviews or Twitter “gangsterisms”.
At least not from our side, and as you all know, Mode 9 is big a man enough not
to subscribe to media hype over something that, quite rightly, he took as
disrespectful but not life threatening. This is Hip Hop, not the Civil War Part
2.
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