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Meet Ruggedman! The rebellious rapper arrives on the scene!
30 Mar 2020

This is the kind of music video where you know the artist isn’t gonna put up with any garbage.

Looks can be deceiving, but in this case they certainly aren’t! A no-nonsense attitude is just the kind of thing we like once in a while, and Ruggedman is here to deliver on that tenfold. He knows what’s right, and he knows what’s important – things like family and love, and knowing what treatment you deserve. Such passions have driven some of the most hardcore agents of change throughout history.

Ruggedman is one of Nigeria’s most celebrated hip-hop artists. Born Michael Ugochukwu Stevens, he was fouth in a line of five children and moved to Lagos in his early years, which brought its own challenges. But family has always been first for him.

When first venturing into the fray of becoming a musical artist, Ruggedman started recording his own music with a tape deck due to a lack of access to a professional recording studio. While the technology and method was rudimentary, it was enough for Ruggedman to record his ideas.

“I would put my face between both tape recorders and start rapping…catching both the beat and my voice onto the empty tape” – Ruggedman

This 2005 throwback says all you need to know! A fantastic album worthy of the lofty title it has been given.

Ever since, Ruggedman has been hitting the studios again and again, recording his own lines on tapes straight from a mic. He made the list of artists alongside Abounce recording music for Diamond Ring, a Tade Ogidan film. This was followed by a collaboration with Freestyle and Swave on the Hilda Dokubo film”A Campus Tale”. The collaboration was assisted by producer Paul Play Dairo and the late studio engineer Tony Tonero.

He went on to record his first ever track with Paul Play Dairo called “What If”, which lead to a chance meeting with the late OJB Jezreel. With access to professional recording studios, his journey in music went from strength to strength. If there was any doubt about his influence on Nigerian contemporary music, the numerous awards Ruggedman has received speak volumes.

He’s not only a man of solid ideals and hard-hitting music, but of heart and passion. The complete and total package – that’s what we like here at Blue Pie. So much so that we thought you should meet him too!

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