Sarkodie's "Brag" named Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy. Was it a diss? Check the dates

Sarkodie released "Brag" at midnight on 10 May 2024, the first single from his six-track mixtape The Championship, which followed on 24 May. Fortune Dane, who also produced "Original", made the beat.

In one verse he says Wizkid came when he was "already doing it", Davido started when he was "improving it", and then Burna Boy, Black Sherif and Asake came through. Nigerian fans read it as a diss.

The register

Sarkodie's debut album, Maakye, came out in 2009. Wizkid's first album, Superstar, followed in 2011, Davido's Omo Baba Olowo in July 2012 and Burna Boy's L.I.F.E in August 2013. Black Sherif and Asake both released debut albums in 2022.

About a week after the song came out, Sarkodie told Vox Africa that Wizkid, Burna Boy and Davido "would never think I want to disrespect them", and that he was "just talking to rappers about how I've been here for long".

Kendrick and Cole

The same verse says his biggest competition is Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. The song arrived in the middle of 2024's biggest rap feud. In March Kendrick rejected the idea of a "big three" with Drake and Cole. On 7 April Cole apologised at his Dreamville festival. Kendrick released "Not Like Us" on 4 May, six days before "Brag". Kendrick's and Cole's first albums both came out in 2011.

The response

Within about a day, Nigerian rapper Dremo, formerly signed to Davido's label, answered with a diss track. By 14 May he had released a third. Medikal backed Sarkodie, and said Davido unfollowed him and that he blocked Davido back.

Sarkodie released no reply track. Asked about the noise, he said: "I wouldn't like to clear it, because I like the energy," adding that even a planned PR campaign "wouldn't get this right".

In 2012 Sarkodie became the first Ghanaian to win a BET award, Best International Act: Africa, which he shared with Wizkid. In 2019 the Ghana Music Awards named him Artiste of the Decade.