Savage Vs Shay: A skirmish tearing popular songstresses apart

Pop star and a one-time Mavins Record first lady, Tiwatope Savage, popularly known as Tiwas Savage, stirred up the anger of Nigerians for swearing with the life of her son, Jamal while denyings ever gossiping about Seyi Shay or Victoria Kimani or trying to take jobs away from either of them.

The 49-99 singer had while engaging in a skirmish with a fellow pop star, Shay, a judge in the ongoing Nigerian Idol, a music reality show, swore with the life of her son, saying: “God should take my child that I birthed; God should take him if I have ever done or said anything about you or Victoria Kimani.”

This did not go down well with many Nigerians, as they chided Savage for using negative words against her son during the skirmish that occurred on Tuesday, June 8 at Tayo Cuts, Triplet Studio, a beauty salon in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

Following the ban on Twitter in Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari, many citizens took to Instagram to express their displeasure with Savage’s action. According to them, Jamal is innocent and his name should not have come up in such a dirty fight.

@mich43l wrote: “God should take your son because you are trying to prove a point? Nah!!!! That was extreme Tiwa; I get we all go far to prove a point but this was over.”

@wumiee wrote: “Tiwa lost me when she involved her kid. Like leave the child out of your mess.”

@m.o.b official wrote: “Imagine mother dey say make God take her child bcus of beef with person, wetin concern the innocent child with your beef.”

@shadykio wrote: “NEVER put your child(ren)’s life in line for anything. Leave the innocent kid out of your mess.”

@wellbecck wrote: “God should take you, leave ur child out of this unnecessary argument, don’t know why she’s involving her innocent child, na wa o.”

@kaayc21 wrote: “I just didn’t like the part of swearing with her son.”

@jessycute cakes’s wrote: “You don’t swear using a child abegggg.”

Meanwhile, some fans of Savage, the Owo Mi Da singer, have taken to the social media to applaud her for giving Shay a piece of her mind.

Popular crossdresser, Idris Okuneye, better known as Bobrisky, on his Instagram handle wrote: “Don’t call me out on social media and be forming hi in the corner. Keep that same energy when you meet me in person @tiwasavage.”

@faithysia_blunt, wrote: “I love how Tiwa Savage addressed this issue with Seyi Shay. Like, don’t say hi to me, we are not friends. You can’t block me on Instagram and not block me in real life. This is my energy. Say it to people the way it is. After all that insult from Seyi and Victoria Kimani.”

@daddy nomso wrote: “Seyi Shay has snubbed Tiwa for years, slut-shamed her, denied her in interviews, subbed her on a freestyle and was laughing when Victoria Kimani was calling Tiwa ‘African Grandmother’… She deserves whatever Tiwa said to her.”

@manlikeIcey wrote: “Seyi Shay was at fault, to be honest. She and Victoria Kimani slut-shamed Tiwa Savage on their ‘Fvck You’ challenge verses. Tiwa was just mute all through and didn’t even throw shades. You can’t see her and tell her ‘hi’ and act like nothing happened now.”

@Olamideofficial described the scenario between both singers as a “typical example of how people shade you or say bad things behind your back and still have the effrontery to come at you with fake cool or laugh.”

It is necessary to note that hateful and spiteful relationships (beefs) among artistes are a common thing in the music industry across the world. And as Africa’s most successful and booming music industry, the Nigerian music industry has never shied away from these relationships.

Whether it is a battle of supremacy or superiority over quality of music, or other factors, there is always the existence of bad blood among two or more music artistes in the Nigerian music scene.

Some of these ‘beefs’ often shake the industry, and, to a large extent, cause fans to go against themselves, both on the social space (internet) and sometimes physically. And from the look of things, there is never any sign that this bad blood relationship will end in the coming years.

From Modenine and Ruggedman to Jude MI Abaga and Kelly Handsome; Vector and MI, Don Jazzy and Olamide, Davido and Wizkid, Tiwa Savage and Yemi Alade, which is believed to be ongoing, and the recent dirtiest ‘nyash’ fight between Savage and Shay, among others, toxic relationships have never ceased to exist.

The two songstresses engaged in a heated conversation to the extent of exchanging fisticuffs. According to an eyewitness, trouble started when Shay walked into the beauty shop at about 11am to get her hair made in readiness for the Sunday live show of the Nigerian Idol.

“Already, Savage was in the salon and was getting her hair made. We all could feel the tension in the salon, as the atmosphere became glaringly uneasy when Shay entered and sighted Savage seated and having her hair made. They had eye contact and in a bid to ease the tension, Shay went over to say hi to Savage, but she rejected the pleasantries and chose the moment to air her grievances,” an eyewitness said.

In a series of videos uploaded by popular blogger, Tunde Ednut on his Instagram page, which went viral, Savage was heard telling Shay: “Don’t come to me and think you can say hi with the dirty and disgusting spirit that you have. You think I have forgotten what you guys did? How many years ago? You and Victoria Kimani; you think I can forget?

“You did a whole song; you and that bitch did a whole song. You went on interviews and said shit about me and I say nothing. I have never slept with your man; I have never taken a job from you. I have never gone on radio to say shit.

“You don’t try and squash shit by saying hi. You try and squash shit by calling me on the phone and talking about it. If I have an issue, I don’t just walk up to you and say ‘hi’. No,” Savage yelled.

Shay, in her defence, said: “The only reason why I greeted you is to try and squash all that is going on and to say sorry. I am not going to listen to this because you got your facts wrong. Tiwa, how about the things that you have done? You want me to open everything here? I am not like you. I am not going to do that. If you want to start acting up and acting like an agbaya right now, carry on.”

And like someone without the proverbial ‘skeleton in the cupboard’, Savage dared Shay to spill whatever secrets she claimed to know about her, saying: “You’re the one that wants to open my ‘nyansh’. Please, open it. Your nyansh is the dirtiest in this industry. You fucking whore, slut! Open it!

“There is nothing I have done in this life that I regret; nothing! Everybody knows I am very proud of my shit. But you, look at you, you look half-dead. Look at your skin. You know what, for a clear skin you need to mind your business. That’s what will clear up your fucking ugly skin.”

Investigating the origin of the disaffection between both artistes, The Guardian gathered that the bad blood might have started in 2015 when Shay was unveiled as Pepsi ambassador while Savage was still an ambassador of the brand.

It was also gathered that Savage, at the time, in a radio interview, was asked to share her thoughts about Shay joining the Pepsi brand, and she responded saying: “You are so…ugh… having an interview with this girl is crazy. See, I knew you were going to drop this in anyways, everybody has heard!”

This did not go down well with Shay who reacted in a now-deleted post, saying: “Go listen to the audio, it hurts.”

Giving reasons for deleting the post, she said: “People are now talking about things and people that have nothing to do with me. In reality, I don’t care. I live my life, mind my business and I am having fun with it. People should not be so concerned with the issues in this industry.”

It should be noted that two years later, Shay re-ignited the bad blood relations when she recorded a diss track in which she called Savage derogatory names. The track was her own version of Kizz Daniel’s #FvckYouChallenge.

Shay also accused Savage of “selling pussy” and stealing her lyrics. This earned her the wrath of Savage’s fans.