Rising Afrobeats star Ruger can no longer work with his record label as he does not see a clear future under the management of the company.
The singer, formally signed to Jonzing World, made the announcement on his socials on Thursday as he moves on to start his label known as Blown Boy Entertainment.
“As much as I’m very appreciative of the fact that Jonzing World introduced me to the world, I just couldn’t continue with them because they got too comfortable with the money they were making from me and couldn’t push me further as I wanted to be pushed,” he wrote on X (formally Twitter).
The Red Flags crooner said he was supposed to renegotiate the contract with his former recording label but “could not imagine five years more without action” at the company.
In a follow-up post, he claimed the company was “not being transparent” as it was using income made from his songs to fund new artistes.
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Some of his followers were, however, not happy with the announcement, saying he should have left the record label ‘honourably’ without embarrassing his former employers.
“Always remember that, someone set a ladder for you to climb up…If you are coming down, do so gently and don’t destroy the ladder,” one of his fans wrote.
The singer has, however, announced a European musical tour dubbed ‘Luv Again Tour’ scheduled to start July 4, 2024. He plans to visit cities including Amsterdam, Paris, Warsaw, Toulouse, Oslo, and Madrid, and end the trip on September 15, 2024.
The 24-year-old said his aim in going on the tour “is to find love, propose to her [lover] in October then have a big wedding January 1st, 2025.”
Ruger, born Michael Adebayo Olayinka, rose to fame with the song Bounce and signed a record deal in 2021 with Jonzing World. In 2021, he released his debut Extended Play (EP), Pandemic.
He later released his second EP, titled The Second Wave, with Dior as the lead single, which debuted at number 32 on the Top 50 chart, and number 15 on the UK Afrobeats Singles Chart.
In February 2023, Ruger was named Best New Artiste at the Soundcity MVP Awards, which were held at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos.
