For a music company that became closely associated with the rise of some of Nigeria’s biggest street-pop stars, Dapper Music’s story has taken an unexpected turn.
At one point, the relationship looked like a success story. Seyi Vibez rose from the underground to mainstream stardom under Dapper. Shallipopi broke through with a string of hits and quickly became one of the country’s biggest young stars. T.I Blaze was also part of the label’s growing circle of artistes.
But behind the hits, questions about money, contracts, catalogues and trust were already beginning to emerge.
By 2024, Seyi Vibez had left. Shallipopi followed later that year, publicly accusing Dapper Music of breach of trust, mishandled finances and a lack of transparency. Muyeez, another young act, also left and made similar allegations about unpaid royalties and exploitation.
Dapper Music rejected those accusations and for a while, the controversy appeared to have settled.
Then, on August 14 and 15, 2026, the old wounds opened again. T.I Blaze, Shallipopi and Seyi Vibez all took to X with fresh accusations against Dapper Music founder Damilola Akinwunmi, known as Dapper. Their posts contained claims ranging from unpaid royalties and unexplained revenue to catalogue licensing, contracts, alleged forged signatures and dealings involving Virgin Music Group.
And in the middle of the financial and contractual dispute came an accusation that sounded very different from the others: “jazz”.
Although Dapper Music has previously denied accusations of financial misconduct and exploitation, taken together with the disputes that emerged in 2024, they raise a bigger question about what happened to relationships that once appeared to be among the strongest partnerships in Nigeria’s new street-pop movement.
How Dapper Became Part of the Street-Pop Story
The beginning of the story is important because Dapper Music did not become controversial overnight.
The company grew alongside the new wave of Nigerian street-pop, at a time when artistes were finding ways to build huge audiences through streaming and social media.
Seyi Vibez became one of the clearest examples of that movement. His breakthrough into mainstream attention came in 2022, particularly with the success of “Chance”. His rise was rapid. He followed the breakthrough with a run of projects and became one of Nigeria’s most streamed artistes.
By 2023, he had won the Headies Award for Best Street-Hop and had become one of the biggest names in the country’s street-pop scene.
Dapper Music was also growing. Damilola Akinwunmi received TurnTable’s Executive of the Year recognition for 2023, while Dapper increasingly became associated with a new generation of commercially successful artistes.
The partnership therefore appeared mutually beneficial. But as the artistes became bigger, the money involved became bigger too. And eventually, questions about who controlled that money would become central to the relationship.
2023: Shallipopi Joins Dapper
Shallipopi’s relationship with Dapper began during the same period of his rapid rise. The Benin-born artiste had broken through with his music and quickly developed a distinctive identity that connected strongly with young Nigerian listeners.
According to Shallipopi’s latest account, however, what he believed he had agreed to in 2023 was not the same arrangement he later discovered.
In his August 15, 2026 post, he alleged that he signed with Dapper for management only. He now claims that his signature was subsequently forged and attached to a 10-year distribution contract.
He also alleged that another agreement was entered into with Virgin Music Group using the same allegedly forged signature.
“In 2023 I signed to dapper management only, he forge my signature and put it on a 10 years distribution contract even when I already use distrokid,” Shallipopi wrote.
He further alleged that Dapper received money from Virgin Music Group without properly accounting to him for it.
“Dapper went ahead to collect money from virgin music group and he put all those money in his pocket and told me to work more, more and more that my money is in the future!”
2024: The First Major Break
The first major public sign that something had gone wrong came with Seyi Vibez. In September 2024, reports emerged that the singer had split from Dapper Music after he deleted his Instagram posts, removed the label’s name from his biography and replaced it with “Independent”.
The timing was notable. Seyi Vibez had just come off a remarkable period of growth. He had released several projects since November 2022, including his 2024 EP Loseyi Professor, which became his sixth solo project in less than two years.
He had also launched his own label, Vibez INC.
The reported split came shortly after he cancelled a Canadian tour, with organisers citing circumstances beyond their control.
Neither the success nor the public image of the partnership could hide the fact that Seyi Vibez was now moving independently. At the time, the reasons for the split were largely a matter of speculation.
Two years later, Seyi Vibez would offer his own version of what happened.
December 2024: Shallipopi Walks Away
If Seyi Vibez’s departure was initially quiet, Shallipopi’s was not.
On December 11, 2024, Shallipopi officially announced that he was ending his agreements with Dapper Music and Dvpper Digital. He described it as one of the hardest decisions of his career. The reasons he gave were direct: broken trust, mishandled finances and disregard for his rights as an artiste.
“This wasn’t a choice I made lightly, but it’s a step I had to take after my trust was broken, my finances mishandled, and my rights as an artist were disregarded.”
He also made the issue bigger than his own career. He said the situation represented a wider problem facing creatives who put their work and trust in people expected to protect their interests. One of his biggest complaints concerned the relationship between Dapper Music and Dvpper Digital.
According to Shallipopi, Dapper Music, which managed him, pushed him into a publishing deal with Dvpper Digital, another company owned by the same person or persons. He described that as a conflict of interest.
“Instead of prioritizing my growth, they prioritized their own profits, putting my career and dreams at risk.”
Then came the money. Shallipopi said he repeatedly asked for proper financial records but could not obtain a clear picture of what his music had earned.
“Imagine not knowing how much you’ve earned or where it’s gone. This is devastating and unacceptable.”
He also claimed he had been presented with a contract that would allow Dapper to receive 30 percent of his earnings forever.
“They tried to lock me into a contract where they’d take 30% of my earnings forever.”
Dapper rejected the allegations. The company said the claims were false and described the situation as disappointing. It maintained that the contractual arrangements were properly executed and disputed the idea that it was attempting to take 30 percent of Shallipopi’s income forever.
That dispute should have been the end of the matter, but it wasn’t.
Muyeez Raises Similar Questions
Shallipopi was not the only young artiste to leave Dapper around that period. Muyeez also terminated his relationship with the company in December 2024. His allegations followed a similar pattern.
He claimed he had not received financial returns or royalties from music released under the imprint, despite the success of his projects. He also complained about the conditions under which he worked and alleged that he had signed his initial paperwork while still a minor.
Dapper denied those allegations as well. The label said the claims were false and premeditated. On the issue of Muyeez’s age, it said his father had signed the contract on his behalf, with legal witnesses present.
The disagreements were therefore no longer simply about one artiste who had fallen out with a label.
There were now multiple former or departing artistes raising questions about money, contracts and transparency. But there was still no single public explanation that settled the competing accounts.
August 2026: The Dispute Explodes Again
Then came August 14, 2026. T.I Blaze appeared to signal the end of his relationship with Dapper with a short but pointed post:
“END OF AN ERA .mr Ripper”
He said he had waited for the matter to be resolved amicably. According to T.I Blaze, however, he had gone seven months without a new release.
“7months no new drop. You think say I jonze. Me wey dey game pass.”
He claimed his contract had expired but that Dapper was delaying the release of his catalogue. He also raised a much larger financial question.
“The -$185k after over a billion revenue prove it. Drop my catalogue I’ll pay it. Nah less.”
He questioned how Virgin Music had become involved in an arrangement where, according to his understanding, Dapper was supposed to receive 30 percent.
“How did virgin music get in to a business where you’re supposed to take 30 percent and bounce, from whose cut is virgin taking their bag?”
Then he asked a question that would become central to the latest controversy:
“How did 1.2 billion naira go unexplained. Dapper music come and answer?”
But his post suggested that the disagreement was not simply about wanting to leave a label. It was about control over music, revenue and catalogue.
The following day, August 15, T.I Blaze provided more detail. He said the dispute went back to 2023 and involved an alleged $400,000 disagreement.
“We don dey argue about $400k as at 2023, wey I wan commot wey this werey use delay tactics shake me that year.”
He claimed that when he tried to leave, he was delayed for months. He said he waited seven months and alleged that even Dapper’s Senior Advocate of Nigeria had advised against what the company was doing.
He also accused Dapper of making decisions that should have required the agreement of both parties. But perhaps the most serious part of his post concerned what he described as secret emails and forged signatures.
“Imagine Having separate secrete emails for artiste and forging artiste signature…”
He ended with a blunt warning:
“Nah jail you go end your life Ripper music.”
These claims seemingly overlap with Shallipopi’s new allegation about an allegedly forged signature, making the August 2026 dispute more serious than the 2024 social-media fallout.
Shallipopi Returns With New Allegations
On August 14, Shallipopi also returned to X. This time, he alleged that Dapper was holding money belonging to him and controlling income from dozens of songs.
“Dapper you Dey hold me money o, and you sell my catalog now you Dey act confuse.”
He claimed Dapper was holding royalty income from 46 songs, including earnings from “E Don Cast”.
He also alleged that the catalogues of several artistes had been given to Virgin Music and that money received from the arrangement was pocketed. He said:
“You carry all of us catalog go give virgin u come collect block money, u come pocket am.”
He also claimed that more than $1 million belonging to him was being held.
“My money wey Dey your hand pass $1m and u know.”
He added that he had gone to the EFCC to make a statement. Then came the issue of transparency again.
Shallipopi said that after leaving Dapper, he had gone offline to learn more about the business side of music. His conclusion, according to his post, was that he had finally seen how transparency and money should work.
“I don see how real transparency Dey work, I don see how money Dey flow, but for your hand….”
The following day, August 15, he escalated the matter further.
Shallipopi’s August 15 post introduced the EFCC directly into the story. He alleged that the EFCC case involving Dapper was a fraud case and claimed that he personally went to the commission’s office to give a statement.
“It’s me shallipopi that use my two legs to walk in that office and lay down all this statement.”
He called on the EFCC, the Nigerian government, the media and the wider public to take the matter seriously. Then he challenged Dapper to settle the dispute in court.
“Dapper make we set court date make we do am the right way make everything end.”
And Then There Is “Jazz”
Amid all the allegations about contracts, royalties and catalogues, Seyi Vibez brought something else into the conversation. On August 14, he wrote:
“Dem Dey use jazz
The jazz no work on me”
It followed a series of other extraordinary statements in which Seyi Vibez claimed that he had built Dapper and that his money was used to sign other artistes.
“I Made dapper”
“Thank GOD say na me first Japa”
Seyi Vibez further alleged that money connected to his music was being used to sign other artistes.
“My money was the money being used to sign all the artiste he signed since Chance.”
He then made a separate allegation involving food from Dapper’s rumoured lover, chef Hilda Baci, saying that food he ate almost killed him, before making a joking reference to catalogue money and Hilda Baci’s BBL. He wrote:
“Na Hilda Baci bbl all una catalogue money dey go
All of una Dey craze and una mama
I chop Hilda baci food one day Na the same dapper give me
The food almost kill me.”
From Success Story to Breakdown
The irony is difficult to miss. Dapper Music and the artistes involved helped each other build some of the most successful careers of the new Nigerian street-pop era.
Seyi Vibez’s mainstream breakthrough coincided with Dapper’s rise. Shallipopi became a major star during his time with the company. Other young artistes, including Muyeez and T.I Blaze, were also part of its ecosystem. The label gained visibility and commercial power.
The artistes gained distribution, management, promotion and access to a growing music industry.
But success changes the nature of a partnership. When an unknown artiste earns little, questions about percentages and accounting can seem distant.
When that artiste becomes a star and millions of streams, catalogue deals and international partnerships enter the picture, every percentage suddenly matters. That is where the Dapper story appears to have become complicated.
The Real Battle Is Bigger Than One Label
At the centre of the dispute is a question that affects almost every young artiste entering Nigeria’s increasingly commercial music industry:
Who owns the music, who controls the money and who gets to see the books?
Shallipopi says his trust was broken.
T.I Blaze says his rights were ignored and his catalogue was held back.
Seyi Vibez now says his money helped build the system he eventually left.
Muyeez previously raised questions about royalties and financial transparency.
Dapper Music, on the other hand, has rejected the allegations made against it and maintained that its contractual dealings were legitimate.
Those positions cannot all be true in the same way. And that is why the next stage of the story should not be decided by who posts the loudest message on X.
It should be decided by contracts, financial records, catalogue agreements, royalty statements and, if the matter reaches court, evidence.
What Went Wrong?
The Dapper Music story began as a success story about a new generation of Nigerian artistes finding their audience.
It became a story about departures, then it became a story about money. Now it has become a much bigger dispute involving alleged unpaid royalties, disputed contracts, catalogue licensing, Virgin Music, claims of forged signatures, EFCC complaints and accusations of broken trust.
And somewhere in the middle of all that is Seyi Vibez’s claim that “jazz” was being used.
The most important question, therefore, is no longer simply why Seyi Vibez left, why Shallipopi left, or why T.I Blaze says he wants out.
It is what happened inside the relationships before they reached the point of public accusations.
