Ruggedy Baba Biography | Early Life, Career, Net Worth
You can call him Ruggedman his real name is Michael Ugochukwu Stephens, and he is a Nigerian rapper that hails from Ohafia, Abia State. He is also known as Mr. Controversial or Opomulero.
His music genres are rap and African hip hop. Aside from being a rapper, he is also a music producer.
He is equally a stage performer, songwriter, and singer. He has been actively involved in the Nigerian music industry since 1999 to date and even has his record label, titled Rugged Records. Many media organizations described him as the fastest rapper in Nigeria.
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Ruggedy Baba Biography | How he started
Ruggedman was born on the 20th September 1975 in Ebem, Ohafia, Abia state. He had both his primary and secondary school educations in the southeastern part of Nigeria before proceeding to Lagos State for his university education.
He graduated from Lagos State University, Ojoo from the department of Political Science, and ventured into the Nigerian music industry in 1999.
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In that same year, he produced his song and equally released two tracks to the airwave.
The two tracks gained much popularity and were consistently being played on radios across Nigeria. He even became the most featured of all the rappers in Nigeria then.
He released all his albums via Rugged Records, which is his personal recorded label.
Ruggedman is a gifted singer and highly skillful too. Ruggedman is not just popular in Nigeria; his popularity transcends the limits of this country, and he has international recognition.
He has performed with so many international acts as follows:
- Nas
- T-Pain
- LL Cool J
- Kanye West
- Maxi Priest
- Akon
- Wyclef Jean
- Sean Paul
Rugged Records has also made waves in the Nigerian music industry. The record label signed MBRYO as its first act in September 2012.
This act featured in Ruggedy Baba pt 2 belonging to Ruggedman and produced by Blaize Beatz.
Ruggedman equally collaborated with MBRYO in Money Making Music, the former’s 2012 album. Funbi and Terry G were guest appearances in that album.
The purpose of the album was to launch MBRYO into the music world.
The names of his albums are:
- Thy Album Come released in 2004
- Ruggedy Baba released in 2007
- Untouchable released in 2012
- Money Making Music released in 2012
Ruggedy Baba Biography | Controversies
Ruggedman released a song in 2012 titled Ehen, and the song led to series of controversies.
He featured Nomoreloss in that song, and it was adjudged to be focused on attacking some musicians in the Nigerian music industry, namely Rasqui, Maintain, Black Reverendz, and Eedris Abdulkareem.
He seems to attack these musicians claiming that their songs lack lyrical content.
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Ruggedy Baba Biography | Awards
Ruggedman can boast of many awards in the cause of his music career. Some of them are highlighted below:
- Best Rap Artiste of the Year at the Headies Awards
- Best Rap Album of the Year at the Nigerian Entertainment Awards
- Best Collabo of the Year at the City People Entertainment Awards.
What Is Ruggedman net worth
Ruggedman has built a name for himself over the years and has also earned the big buck. His net worth is estimated to be around $5 million.