Mr Real Claims Afrobeats Lacks Originality, Rampant Intellectual Property Theft

Music artist Okafor Uchenna Victor, widely recognized by his stage name Mr Real, has voiced deep concern over what he asserts is a high incidence of intellectual property theft within the Nigerian music industry.

Dependable NG reports that the popular ‘Legbegbe’ crooner was speaking in a recent interview with Hip TV, where he claimed that the Afrobeats genre, in its current state, “no get original songs” and stressed that a large number of songs and creative concepts circulating in the scene were stolen. He notably stated, “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,” delivered in Pidgin.

Mr Real pointed out that the issue of song theft is most prevalent between emerging artists and top-tier musicians. He lamented that younger artists rarely receive justice because they often lack the necessary support and fan base to create public awareness about the injustice.

He further claimed that even veteran artists who are vocal about the issue, specifically mentioning Blackface, have allegedly used other artists’ intellectual property in the past without appropriate approval. He concluded his statement by asserting that there is “no original song in Afrobeats,” including from those who frequently complain about being copied.