An Open Letter to Fuji’s A-List : Who Is Building The Next Generation? By Alhaji Arems Adeniyi (Baba Fuji)

Portable’s latest criticism has reopened an uncomfortable conversation. The evidence shows that established Fuji artistes do create opportunities for younger acts. But Fuji still has a bigger question to answer: how do those opportunities become a culture rather than occasional exceptions?

Portable has once again sparked a conversation around the Nigerian music industry.
In comments that circulated in late August, the street-pop artiste questioned the commitment of some of Fuji’s biggest names to the generation coming behind them. He specifically called out K1 De Ultimate, Pasuma and Saheed Osupa, while pointing to established Afrobeats artistes such as Davido, Wizkid, Burna Boy and Olamide as examples of stars he believes have done more to support younger musicians.

It would be easy to dismiss the argument as another Portable controversy.
It would also be too easy.
Not because the accusation is entirely correct. The evidence does not support the idea that established Fuji artistes simply do nothing for upcoming musicians.

But it does raise a question Fuji should be willing to answer:
What are we doing deliberately, and consistently, to build the next generation?
That is a much bigger conversation.

The Evidence Complicates the Argument
Take Saheed Osupa.
At his August 7, 2026 birthday celebration in Lagos, more than 30 upcoming artistes actually performed at the event.
That detail matters.

They were not merely names placed on a promotional flyer. They were given a stage and actually performed before an audience at an event associated with one of Fuji’s biggest names.
The celebration also marked Osupa’s 100 million-stream milestone on Audiomack and brought together artistes, fans and industry figures. Contemporary coverage confirms the extensive performance programme surrounding the celebration.

That single event does not prove that everything is perfect within Fuji.
It does, however, make the broad argument that established Fuji stars are doing nothing for younger artistes difficult to sustain.
And Osupa’s involvement with emerging talent goes beyond one birthday celebration.
In 2025, he launched the Fuji Music Camp, a mentorship initiative specifically designed to groom the next generation of Fuji musicians across different styles of the genre. The programme brought together emerging talents, producers, songwriters and other experienced industry figures.

So perhaps the argument needs to move forward.
The issue is not whether opportunities exist.
It is whether there are enough of them, whether they are accessible enough, and whether they form a sustainable path for the next generation.

Dear Fuji A-List, Your Influence Is Bigger Than Your Discography
To the established Fuji artistes who have spent decades building careers, audiences and reputations:
There is something you possess that an upcoming artiste cannot simply buy.

Access.
You have audiences that took years to build.
You have relationships with promoters, musicians, producers and media organisations.
You have the credibility that comes from surviving different eras of Nigerian music.
And when you invite an unknown artiste onto your stage, that artiste suddenly has an opportunity that might otherwise have taken years to find.
That does not mean every young musician deserves a feature.

It does not mean you are responsible for building somebody else’s entire career.
And it certainly does not mean that helping another artiste should require you to diminish yourself.

But your position gives you the ability to make the journey less difficult for those coming behind you.
That is influence worth using.
And perhaps the best measure of a Fuji legend’s legacy will eventually be more than how long he remained at the top.

It will also be how much stronger the genre became because he was there.

Fuji Has Already Shown That Old Divisions Can Change
There is another part of this conversation that deserves attention.
Fuji has a long history of competition.
That competition has produced some of the genre’s most memorable eras, but it has also created rivalries around some of its biggest names.

The long-running tensions involving Saheed Osupa and Pasuma, with K1 De Ultimate also caught up in the wider dynamics, are part of Fuji’s documented history. In 2023, however, Osupa and Pasuma publicly reconciled, while K1, Pasuma and Osupa were also seen together on stage.
That should tell the younger generation something important:

A rivalry does not have to become a permanent wall.

Competition can remain.
Individual fan bases can remain.
Different musical identities can remain.
But the genre itself can still come first.
The problem begins when loyalty to a particular camp becomes so strong that collaboration with another camp feels like crossing a line.
That is not necessarily about hatred. Sometimes it is simply what happens when decades of competition, fan loyalty and personal history harden into separate territories.
And that is precisely where the next generation has an opportunity to do things differently.

Fuji Needs More Bridges Between Its Camps
Imagine what happens when two upcoming artistes from different Fuji camps decide to work together.

One brings his audience.
The other brings his own.
Their sounds meet.
Their supporters are exposed to something new.
And suddenly, the boundary between two audiences becomes smaller.
Now imagine established artistes doing the same thing with younger musicians.
Not every collaboration has to become a major commercial record.

Sometimes the value is simply in creating an association, sharing an audience or showing younger artistes that Fuji does not have to operate as a collection of isolated camps.
There is already evidence that the genre can accommodate this kind of thinking. The reconciliation between some of Fuji’s biggest names demonstrated that old divisions can be confronted rather than inherited indefinitely.
What Fuji needs now is to take that spirit further.
From reconciliation to collaboration.
From collaboration to development.
From development to succession.

And To the Upcoming Fuji Artistes: This Part Is For You
There is an uncomfortable truth on the other side of this conversation.
You cannot demand opportunity while doing nothing to prepare for it.
An established artiste can give you a stage.
He cannot give you stagecraft.
He can give you a feature.
He cannot give you your identity.
He can introduce you to his audience.
He cannot make that audience stay.
That part is your responsibility.
If you want to become a serious Fuji artiste, learn the music properly.

Understand Yoruba lyricism.
Understand rhythm and improvisation.
Learn how to command a live band and an audience.
Study the masters without becoming their imitation.
Understand contemporary production without losing the character that makes Fuji Fuji.
And take the business of music seriously.
Your music should be properly recorded, distributed and promoted. Your social-media presence should serve your artistry rather than replace it. Your live performance should be strong enough to make people remember you after the microphone is switched off.
Most importantly, build your own name.
Being known as somebody’s boy may get you into a room.

It should not be where your story ends.

Stop Looking Only Upward
This may be one of the most important lessons for emerging artistes.
If you are waiting for K1, Pasuma or Osupa to discover you before you begin building, you are giving somebody else control of your career.
Work with your peers.
Find another upcoming Fuji artiste whose strengths complement yours.
Work with producers who are hungry.
Perform together.
Create your own showcases.
Build audiences together

.
Reach beyond Fuji where the music makes sense.
The next generation does not have to wait for the established generation to solve every problem before it starts creating its own ecosystem.
Build sideways as well as upward.
By the time an A-list artiste notices what you are doing, there should already be something worth noticing.

What the A-List Can Do Better
This is not a demand for every established Fuji artiste to become a talent manager.
It is much simpler than that.
Create more opportunities to be seen.
Bring emerging acts onto major stages.
Collaborate across camps when the music calls for it.

Share knowledge.
Recommend good talent.
Support structured initiatives.
Where possible, create recurring platforms rather than one-off opportunities.
The distinction matters.

A birthday celebration that gives more than 30 young artistes a chance to perform is valuable.
A mentorship programme like Fuji Music Camp is valuable.

But imagine several established Fuji figures doing comparable things throughout the year.
Imagine those programmes connecting to one another.

Imagine an upcoming artiste being discovered at one platform, mentored at another, recording with an established musician, performing at a major concert and eventually headlining his own show.
That is a pipeline.
And a pipeline is more powerful than an occasional helping hand.

What the Younger Generation Can Do Better
The responsibility does not end with the elders.
Upcoming artistes also need to stop treating every refusal as evidence of sabotage.
Not every A-list artiste who declines a feature is trying to hold you down.
Maybe the song is not right.
Maybe the timing is wrong.
Maybe you are not ready yet.
Maybe the artiste simply does not know you.
Keep working.
Improve the music.
Build the audience.
Try again when there is something new to offer.
And when somebody finally opens the door, be ready to walk through it.

Perhaps Portable Has Raised the Right Question in the Wrong Way
That may be the fairest conclusion to this entire debate.

It would be inaccurate to say that established Fuji artistes never help younger musicians.
The August 7 celebration is a tangible example of an established Fuji platform being used to give numerous upcoming artistes a stage. Osupa’s Fuji Music Camp is another concrete example of an attempt to develop emerging Fuji talent through mentorship and structured support.
At the same time, pointing to those examples should not end the conversation.
One artiste’s birthday celebration cannot carry Fuji’s succession plan.
One mentorship programme cannot solve every problem.

And a handful of collaborations cannot replace an industry culture that makes collaboration normal.
That is the bigger opportunity.

Fuji’s Future Should Not Depend on One Man’s Invitation
A young artiste should not have to know the right person before getting a chance.
There should be enough platforms for talent to surface.
Enough stages for musicians to prove themselves.
Enough mentorship for them to develop.
Enough collaboration for different audiences to meet.

Enough industry knowledge for them to understand what comes after the music is recorded.
And enough room for new stars to emerge without the established generation feeling that their own position is under threat.
The elders have their place.
The upcoming artistes have theirs.
The industry itself has a responsibility to connect both.

Fuji has already demonstrated that its biggest personalities can put old rivalries aside. It has demonstrated that established artistes can create platforms for younger musicians. It has demonstrated that mentorship can be organised around the genre’s future.
Now it needs to make those things less exceptional.

An Open Letter to Both Generations
To the established Fuji artistes:
Keep your crowns. Nobody is asking you to surrender them.
But open more doors.
Use the access you have.
Make collaboration easier.
Give deserving young artistes places to perform, learn and grow.
And remember that your legacy will not be measured only by how many people listened to you.

It will also be measured by what remains after your generation moves on.
To the upcoming Fuji artistes:
Do not wait to be rescued.
Respect the people ahead of you, but build your own identity.
Master your craft.
Build your audience.
Collaborate with your peers.
Take opportunities seriously.
And when the door opens, make sure your talent is strong enough to keep it open.
Because today’s upcoming artiste is tomorrow’s established artiste.
And when your turn comes, another generation will be watching you.
The question will then be yours to answer:
Will you close the door behind you, or will you make the entrance wider?
Fuji does not need fewer kings.
It needs a stronger path for the next generation to become them.