Name any genre of music that has been popular in the 20th century, and instantly some famous rivalries come to mind.The Brit. Pop genre threw up the Beatles versus the Rolling Stones. A few years later, The Osmonds emerged ostensibly to counter The Jackson Five. Music rivalry was taken to a whole new level by American rappers during the late 1990s, with East coast, West coast , beef. Alas, it eventually led to the demise of two megastars of the rap world- Tupac Amaru Shakur and Biggie Smalls aka Christopher Wallace. Recently, even in the smooth world of neo-soul , there's been the Chris Brown and Frank Ocean feud.
In Nigeria, Fela contended with Segun Bucknor in the early part of his career. The Fuji artistes, Barrister and KWAM1 were encouraged by promoters to throw musical darts at each other. Also, in 2010, a Nigerian rapper, MI, actually released a track titled : Beef,as a test to rival MCs However, one of the earliest and biggest rivalries in Nigeria, was perceived to have existed between the superstars in juju music- Ebenezer Obey and Sunny Ade.
The contention took place in the early 70s and, as with many music rivalries there was an element of manufactured antagonism created by hangers-on, maintain their relevance in the circle of the musical superstars. The rival was also fuelled by fans, and often exploited by music companies seeking to increase sales.
