Ruggedman: How 9ice used rumour of my affair with his ex-wife to promote album

Ruggedman, the ace Nigerian rapper, has claimed that singer 9ice used rumour of his affair with Tony Payne, his ex-wife, to promote his album.

The rapper spoke about his years-long feud with 9ice on the recent episode of the WithChude podcast.

9ice and Payne tied the knot in 2008 but broke up in 2011.

There was also no love lost between Ruggedman and 9ice in 2010 after rumours claimed the former had an affair with the latter’s wife.

9ice thereafter put out an album titled ‘Tradition’ in the wake of the controversy. In ‘Once Bitten Twice Shy’, a song from the album, 9ice recalled how his lover and friend had an affair.

The lyrics left tongues wagging, with many arguing that the friend he was referring to was Ruggedman.

But in the recent interview, Ruggedman shared his side of the story, admitting that he introduced Payne to 9ice.

The rapper said when the rumours of the affair went viral, he had asked 9ice to address it but the singer refused.

He said he was shocked when 9ice told him that “everybody should go and defend anything they want to defend” — implying he was not ready to allow the rumour to die down.

“Let me tell you something, when I heard the song, I knew what he was talking about. He was talking about one of his exes and this was like two years before I introduced him to Toni Payne,” he said.

“I remember clearly I took him to Minna and I noticed he had a long face, he was not himself at some point. He finally opened up that he walked in on his then-girlfriend giving his friend a b*****b and I was like woah. That was the last I had heard about the matter till that song, so I knew who he was talking about…

“I called him, he picked and we hailed each other and I was like this your song you released people are misunderstanding it, they are thinking you are talking about your wife and me. He was like of course not now and I said yes, I know it is not about me but this is what they are saying.

“The best you can just do is get your manager to do a press release and say this is what’s up. To me, I was saying this because this was my friend I was talking to but I was shocked when he said no.

“… I was like it is not the press, it is my fans and yours. He was still like I know, that everybody should go and defend themselves, that he does not have time.”

The 50-year-old said he felt betrayed by 9ice because he “threw me and his wife under the bus” so he could “sell CDs”.

“Then it dawned on me that when his ‘Tradition’ album came out, that album was not moving until that rumor started,” he said.

“A lot of people went out to buy the album because they wanted to hear the part where he said Ruggedman and his wife.

“It really hurt me when I felt like he was throwing me and his wife under the bus just so he could sell CDs. That was the betrayal part, he even went as far as doing a song to diss me.”

In 2020, Payne maintained that she never cheated on the singer as alleged in some quarters.