Ruggedman

In 2002, Ruggedman released the controversial song Ehen featuring Nomoreloss. The song which was a direct to diss to then established acts in the Nigeria music industry had him mentioning names of Eedris Abdulkareem, Black Reverendz, Maintain and Rasqui for their apparent lack of lyrical contents in their songs. [3]

Rugged man had been in spatting with fellow Hip Hop act Mode 9 on who is the best rap artist in Nigeria, both acts took it to dissing each other on various songs. Rugged man replied Mode 9 without mentioning his name on the track "Vengeance" after Mode 9 released the single "Talking to You" where he rapped,

''this baba/that baba/ if I dis a baba/ it's not Ethiopia.''

A verse from Ruggedman's reply pointed at Mode 9 goes,

''A lot trying to diss/fools still dissing me. Some will diss indirectly/ and still miss him…/ they point like a blind nurse/a patient/and her needle…'' [4]

On April 23, 2019, Ruggedman in an Instagram post scolded Afrobeats act Naira Marley for his support for internet fraudsters. Naira Marley who had gained notoriety for supporting internet fraudsters by saying it was linked to slavery was cautioned by Ruggedman's post which he wrote,

"@nairamarley My brother, I love your music and all but you need to get one thing clear and do not mislead people. Especially kids on social media. You can do Yahoo all you want, but do not disrespect the part of the black race that were sold into slavery by trying to use it to justify cybercrime. The people who bought slaves died ages ago. If you want to fight that, then start a cause/movement against the British and America. Whoever owned slaves, but stealing the hard earned money of other people isn't about slavery. You say the Nigerian leaders are looting trillions outta this country, why aren't you hacking their accounts and giving back to the people Robin Hood style? I swear I go hail you for that one.

"But bro respect the black race and don't try to use it to justify cybercrime. E no follow. If it wasn't a crime popo won't be busting boys for it. Thousands of qualified Nigerians can't get jobs outside Nigeria because of "yahoo". Their families are suffering. Young Nigerians are suspect everywhere they go because of "yahoo". If you want to do it, enjoy. Nobody is stopping you. But remember that if you do the crime, if you are caught you do the time. I got friends that are into it, I don't judge. I got friends who are in jail as we speak for doing it, I don't judge. All man dey hustle. God bless all our hustles and let's hold our leaders accountable. #NigeriaMustBeGreatAgain #NigeriaisForUsAllNotForAParticularTribeOrGroup,"[5]

After Naira Marley's arrest on suspicions of connection to fraud, Ruggedman expressed regret for making his case with him public. According to Ruggedman, if he had known that the Naira Marley case would have been taken as serious as this, he wouldn’t have condemned the younger artist on a public domain.

Ruggedman said,

“If I say I’m not disturbed to know how crazy this Naira Marley case has gotten I’ll be lying. I commented and cautioned him like I would do as a senior colleague to a younger colleague because for me I knew and I could see that what he was saying was not going to go well with a lot of people; especially the authorities, and that’s why I did what I did. If I’d known it was going to get this bad I wouldn’t have said it anywhere I was happy he was arrested, insinuate or joke about fraudster or anything around him,”[6]

In June 2019, Ruggedman was attacked at a London restaurant by four men. He was in the United Kingdom for a show and while he was having dinner at an 805 restaurant he was accosted by a group of four men wearing hoodies.

A few hours after the attack, Ruggedman took to his official Instagram handle to confirm the incident.

“Being attacked by four misguided boys will not deter me from fighting for the youths, even though they blindly fight me” He wrote alongside a picture of him and a London police officer.

Although details of the confrontation were sketchy the incident was linked to Naira Marley since it happened at the same period with Naira Marley's arrest and spat with Ruggedman. Naira Marley severally denied any involvement. [7][8]