Afrobeats star Ruger has spoken candidly about the struggles he faced after parting ways with his former record label, Jonzing World.
In an interview on Afrobeats Intelligence, the singer revealed that many in the industry doubted his ability to succeed independently, with some even predicting the end of his touring career.
Ruger noted that in Nigeria, artists who leave their labels are often branded as ungrateful, which makes it difficult to gain support within the industry.
He also described dealing with cancel culture and the emotional toll of having to rebuild his career from the ground up.
“I had to meet people all over again and reintroduce myself — it was stressful,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Ruger credited his resilience and self-belief for helping him push through and continue rising in his music journey.
He said, “After leaving the label [Jonzing World], there were a lot of comments about it. Some people were saying, ‘This is the last year you’re going to tour’, ‘This is the end’, ‘You’re finished’, this and that.
“Not everybody was willing to help me because the public sentiment, once you leave a label in Nigeria, is that you are ungrateful. Many people don’t want to associate with that person, even those in the same industry. It happens.”
“I was battling to cancel culture. I had to meet a lot of people and reintroduce myself. I was doing a lot of things from scratch. It’s stressful, I’m not going to lie. It’s not easy to leave a label. You have to build your system. It was just like starting everything over again. But because I was strong inside -I was also down, but I was still strong- I triumphed.”
Ruger rose to stardom in 2021 and won the AFRIMA Best Newcomer award, and also the Best New Artist category at the 2023 Soundcity MVP Awards.
He has two extended plays (EPs), ‘Pandemic’ (2021) and ‘Second Wave’ (2022) and will release his debut album ‘RU The World’ in September 2023.
