Fans and admirers of promising Nigerian music act, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba a.k.a. MohBad, woke up last Sunday to the sad news of his untimely death. The circumstances surrounding his tragic end at age 27 have ignited a flurry of speculations, with accusing fingers pointing towards some of his colleagues, including the owner of a record label responsible for the release of some of his songs.
The Genesis
As at 2019 and at the age of 23, MohBad was already an online music sensation, but he was still struggling and looking forward to making it big on the Nigerian music scene. Unknown to many, he was formerly known as 2Black but got his popular moniker MohBad after wowing a music producer who said his verses were mind-blowing.
Many of his short videos had gone viral owing to his well crafted and acceptable use of words and the weaving of Yoruba, one of Nigeria’s indigenous languages, into his songs. In the same year 2019, the owner of the record label aforementioned was arrested in connection with an alleged case of internet fraud and money laundering.
After the record label’s ordeal with the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), MohBad reached out to him on Instagram to seek collaboration on one of his songs. The conversation however drifted away from a duet to getting MohBad signed on to the record label. Thus MohBad was officially signed on to the record label in December 2019.
The Good
As it turned out, all through 2019 till October 25, 2022 when MohBad’s management announced his exit from the record label, it was all smooth and rosy between him and the owner.
While the good times lasted, MohBad worked tirelessly, releasing many singles with at least five of them becoming hit songs of the Afrobeats movement. From ‘Ponmo’ to ‘Feel Good’ and ‘KPK (Ko Por Ke),’ MohBad churned out hits under music label and worked with notable music producers including Rexxie, P.Beat and Austin Sinister.
From the Headies Awards to The Beatz Awards, MohBad’s fame knew no bounds and he churned out songs that produced an EP entitled ‘Light (Imole)’ in 2019 and ‘Peace’ in 2022.
Despite releasing many feel good songs to the delight of fans and music lovers, Imole, as MohBad became known after the release of his first EP, started having cracks in his relationship with the owner and other executives of the record label.
MohBad
It is alleged that the discord between Mohbad and the owner of the record label stemmed from the artiste’s refusal to participate in alleged drug peddling operations. According to reports, while the relationship that existed between the owner of the record label and MohBad appeared smooth on the outside, darker secrets lay beneath the surface.
Various reports claimed that part of the obligations of all music acts signed to the record label in question include alleged initiation into drug peddling and taking an oath of secrecy. Mohbad’s reluctance to partake in these activities reportedly triggered a bitter feud that ultimately led to his exit from the record label.
MohBad’s management later announced his exit from the record label while his legal team released a statement asserting that his exit was as a result of the constant attacks orchestrated by the label’s owner as well as unpaid royalties since 2019.
The ugly
Things grew from worse to ugly between MohBad and the executives of the record label with videos of physical assault and harassment viral on the social media in the second and third quarters of 2022.
The once rosy relationship that existed between the music act and his one time record label degenerated so badly that even after parting ways with the record label, Mohbad repeatedly raised the alarm over threats to his life allegedly originating from its owners.
Adding to the grim narrative, videos circulating online featured Mohbad lamenting how his life had taken a downward spiral since his return from an NDLEA (Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency) operation. Notably, the agency had conducted a raid on the residence of the record label’s owner in February 2022 and arrested Mohbad and others associated with the record label after recovering illicit drugs and cannabis in the house.
Subsequently, MohBad alleged that executives of the record label and their aides were frustrating his efforts of growing in the music industry at different times on his social media accounts.
As if his battles with the record label were not enough, MohBad’s health deteriorated so much that in October 2022, the singer took to social media to reveal a startling diagnosis – he had been identified as an emergency hypertensive patient at just 26.
In a tweet, he expressed the gravity of his health condition, denying any involvement with drugs or alcohol and pleading for support.
“I’m not intoxicated, but l have just been diagnosed as an emergency hypertensive patient. I’m not on drugs or drinks and my life is at stake. I’m still getting threats,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Despite his health conditions, he was again assaulted by men believed to be acting under the instructions of the boss of the record label with which he had had a running battle. In a petition dated June 27, 2023, Mohbad formally sought the intervention of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) after he was assaulted during a music video shoot with another music act, Zlatan Ibile.
In his petition, Mohbad cited threats to his life and detailed how some individuals stormed and disrupted the video shoot, causing damage to the set and equipment.
MohBad narrated how he was assaulted by a singer and music promoter believed to be a close associate of the record label’s owner together with 15 others.
Until his death, the record label’s owner and MohBad could not make up as they avoided each other like a plague.
Family and struggles
While it is public knowledge that MohBad’s father, Joseph Aloba, is a clergyman, not many are aware that the late singer’s music artistry was one of the traits he picked up from his dad. Unknown to many, Aloba senior was a talented singer in his heyday and was popular as a member of a few choirs before he moved on to start a church he leads as the shepherd.
After the singer’s death, his father claimed he had a premonition but thought the battle had been fought and won in his dream.
Narrating his premonition for MohBad’s death, he said: “I had a dream about him, two days before the incident. In the dream, I saw someone trying to shoot me. I thought I escaped the bullet, not knowing something like this would happen to me.”
MohBad’s battle as a young boy growing up with a single dad spurred him into working hard for every penny. He was closer to his father, who raised him and his siblings.
Interestingly, in the midst of his battles, MohBad and his lover of many years, Omowunmi, welcomed their first and only child, Liam. The partners welcomed Liam in May 2023.
