Nigerian pop star, Wizkid has an EP that is set to be released in exactly one week.

Sounds from The Other Side is an international project, by all means. With a total of seven collaborations, five of which are with the biggest, most celebrated names on the world stage – Drake, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Major Lazer, TY Dolla Sign – Wizkid is not in need of a cheap, lousy stunt to push his album.

We were mighty sure of this fact until he began to hurl insults at his peers, Davido and Tekno. First, it was Davido who got the “frog voice” treatment. Then, Tekno who could not sit still somehow got himself dragged in and Wizkid did not spare him. He was told to avoid the gathering of lions, himself being a duck.  It was genuinely funny and trust Nigerians to make the most of it -memes, GIFs, etcetera.

Beyond the humour, we’ve been pushed to wonder if Wizkid has an underlying motive for his recent actions. We asked our Insiders what they think Wizkid is up to and here’s what they said:

This Insider who is a talent management expert says one cannot erase the possibilities of Wizkid‘s actions being a publicity stunt. He says, “If it’s a PR stunt, then it’s not necessary. He should not be considering this at this time in his career after his management has gotten rid of the vulgarity that filled his social media pages in the past. This is why I think he may just be having harmless fun. Although Wizkid is no longer on the level where he’ll be exchanging needless banter with Davido, those tweets suggest that he’s harbouring animosity against the latter.”

Another Insider reads deeper meanings to Wizkid‘s actions and thinks he is sending a message that should be ignored. “Wizkid is marking his territory. The message is basically, ‘Don’t mess with me if you’re not on my level. I’m not rubbing anything in your face but you need to respect my success. If you want to cross my lane, I will drag you'”. That’s everything I read in Wizkid‘s tweets and frankly, he has gained the rights. He has earned the money, respect and acclaim and has become the Nigerian dream.”

This pop culture expert offered a different perspective to the matter. He acknowledged the beef between both artistes but said, “Beef is good for the culture and for the industry. Beef shapes pop culture. We’ve seen that with Jay-Z and Nas and later Jay-Z and Kanye West. Before Wizkid went international, he had a running beef with Davido so this might just be a continuation of that. At his level, I’m not sure Wizkid needs a PR stunt for his works so that is definitely ruled out.”

“I was suspecting that maybe Davido is on the Sounds from The Other Side EP so maybe they were creating the controversy for publicity”, another Insider said. “A lot of these artistes are actually cool in real life so forget what you see on social media. I think they are having fun”.

These are the members of YNaija’s Pop Culture Insiders, not all of whom participated in this week’s survey: 

Bizzle Osikoya (Bee Entertainment), Jim Donnett (TooXclusive), Ehiz (MTVBase), Timini Egbuson (Actor), Bayo Omisore (Platonique PR), Jide Taiwo (NET), Ayodeji Rotinwa (ThisDay), Edwin Okolo, Sensei Uche (City FM), Joey Akan (PulseNG), Timilehin Bello (Media Panache), Edward Israel (Chocolate City), Uche Briggs, Oreoluwa Peters (Doble Seis Entertainment), Ubi Franklin (TripleMG), Eromo Egbejule (The Guardian), Freeze (Cool FM), Godwin Tom (Godwin Tom Company), Asa Asika, Dotun Kayode (Cool FM), Femisoro Ajayi (BahdGuys Entertainment), Lekan Olanrewaju (Mnet), Latasha Ngwube (AboutThatCurvyLife), Funke Babs-Kufeji (ThisDay), Isioma Osaje (Agency 106), Jola Sotubo (PulseNG), Tosyn Bucknor (Top Radio), Tosin Ajibade (Olorisupergal), Ifeoma Areh (WildFlowerPR), Foladele Falana (TV Continental)