M.I connects the dots: What Burna, Eedris, VDM share

Nigerian hip-hop artist and songwriter, M.I Abaga, has disclosed that singer, Burna Boy, veteran rapper, Eedris Abdulkareem, and controversial social media activist, VeryDarkMan, have something in common.

According to him, the trio has shared qualities in bravery and activism.

M.I made this disclosure while speaking about his rap inspiration in a recent episode of the ‘Menism podcast.’

According to M.I, it is wrong when people claim to have climbed the ladder without any help. Stating that there is always an inspiration.

“I don’t like it when people say no one paved the way for them. What inspired me to rap was, first of all, the fact that I listen to rap music and I love rap,” he said.

Speaking about his childhood dream and inspiration, M.I said he loved to create cartoons, a dream that was cut short due to the lack of animation studios in Nigeria at the time.

“Most people have that story when they are young, there’s something they love. When I was young, I used to do cartoons but there was no animation studio in Nigeria, so I gave up the dream.”

Speaking further, he stated that for a young rapper it is different because, you see a plethora of other artists whom you can look up to.

“But it’s a different thing when you are a young rapper and you look up and you see Eldee The Don. Then there’s Ruggedman, who brought a new flair to the rap industry. There is also this guy called Eedris Abdulkareem. He was just like Rema.”

“When you see Rema now, that was the energy that Eedris had back in the days. He was the Burna Boy of then.”

While emphasising the similarities between the trio, M.I stated that, just like Burna Boy and VDM, people usually went with the flow of Eedris’s song, citing ‘Mr. Lecturer’ as a good example.

“Rema has it but now that I think about it, I would say Eedris was more like Burna and VDM. He would just say a thing and put it out there and everybody will be singing it. He has a song called ‘Mr Lecturer’ and so many other conscious tracks.”