The rivalries and age-long feuds music artists share is a phenomenon sewn into the creative fabric and has an enduring history that transcends genres or our present musical climate. However, because the Nigerian music industry has always and continues to be dominated by men with female musical acts having to endure more scrutiny, policing, and getting raised to higher creative standards it becomes inevitable to not have a few petty jabs turn into a feud that often times becomes political and unnecessarily explosive.

The feud between Tiwa Savage and Yemi Alade which began with a string of inferred and sometimes blatant jabs at each other with fuel from the stories fans spin from these sometimes harmless instances have lasted for a while, with some (read men) dubbing it a prime example of how much women hate each other.

In all honesty, creative rivalries are often healthy and don’t mean much more than keeping the artists involved relevant to the most talked-about conversations, but while this might work well for men without much consequence, there is, quite disturbingly, a mandate on women to always agree with each other, not to band together to fight the patriarchal industry they work in but to maintain the unproblematic identities expected of them.

While both formidable music acts (Tiwa Savage and Yemi Alade) have gone on to stake their claim in both local and international music arenas and even got featured on a culturally relevant project (The Gift) it would seem that the scores have officially been settled seeing as Tiwa Savage invited Yemi Alade to perform at her #EverythingSavage concert.

In what was nothing short of an iconic moment, Tiwa Savage gracefully welcomed Yemi Alade to an excited crowd witnessing a protracted feud getting dissolved. It is exciting that this happened, a collaboration might be on the way at last, but it would be nice to allow these healthy competitions thrive between female creatives, not because of the tacky sentiment that women cannot stand other women but because these things simply happen.

Nelson C.J

Nelson C.J is a culture writer with works in The New York Times, Xtra Magazine, OkayAfrica, Black Youth Project, AfroPunk, and a few other spaces. You can find him saving dog pictures on Twitter.