18th April, 2024
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Following the success of their pre-released singles “POE” and “Romeo Must Die,” Afrobeats sensation Ruger and singer-songwriter BNXN have released their joint EP, “RnB.”
The EP delves deeper into the world of love and romance with new tracks such as “Bae Bae,” Calculate Love” and “Ilashe.”
“RnB” is produced by Blaise Beatz, KukBeatz and Sarz.
BNXN and Ruger in an interview with Nandi Madiba of Apple Music Africa Now Radio, speaks about the project.
BNXN said the ‘RnB’ EP showed synergy at its finest.
“It shows quality, it shows the real essence of collaboration – how to bounce off each other, how to learn from each other, how to pick this and flow off what this person [did]. It’s like a relay race,” BNXN said on the 7-track project which serves as a celebration of the truce between both artists after nearly 2 years of rift.
BNXN described the EP as a collaborative effort he’s very proud of. BNXN also suggests that there’s more to come from the duo as he points attention to the last track on the EP.
“…I am beyond proud of this project. It’s why the last song we said “Not Done,” because hopefully we’re not done.”
Ruger on his part stated that he enjoyed working with BNXN because they are two artists who make music beyond the thematic depth. He further stated that the depth of their lyrics is something that needs to be appreciated by Nigerian listeners because it’s hugely appreciated abroad.
“You know most Afrobeats artists, they’re always about gyration, enjoyment – let’s make songs people will party to, let’s talk about enjoyment and money and that. We’re talking about everything! Go back to our projects, we talk about everything, we talk about relationships. Most artists in Naija don’t talk about relationships like that, they talk about ‘your body’s banging, you’re fine, you’re this’ but we’re saying the deeper things. As much as the whole world is appreciating that part, I think Nigerians have to actually appreciate that about us, because when we go outside the country that’s what they love about us. “That guy is speaking to me!”
In March, Ruger and BNXN, took their fans by surprise with their photo shared on social media, about their upcoming collaboration.
For the past two years, Nigerian music stars Ruger and BNXN have been at loggerheads with the two exchanging words on social media.
Appearing to have settled their rift, they have hinted at a potential future collaboration.
The duo took to their X pages to share a picture of the two together in what looks like a video shoot for a music video.
Ruger who recently exited his record label, Jonzing World to start his label ‘Blown Boy’, shared a photo of himself and BNXN on Instagram during a music video shoot.
The beef between the two started in 2022 after a random Twitter (Now X) user told Ruger that BNXN had more hit songs than him before Ruger replied that he had more solo hits than BNXN. Things went downhill from there with both acts exchanging words on Twitter over who had more money and hit songs.
The Headies would also place both of them in the Next Rated category in 2022 which further fueled their differences although BNXN played down the beef when he said he loved Ruger in his acceptance speech.