Mavo apologises as backlash over past tweets intensifies

Nigerian artist Mavo is learning a hard lesson about the internet’s long memory. After days of mounting pressure from fans and critics alike, the singer has addressed a wave of resurfaced tweets that painted him as less than flattering toward some of Afrobeats’ biggest names.

The drama unfolded when eagle-eyed social media users dug up old posts where Mavo had taken shots at established artists including Davido and Ayra Starr, among others. What started as whispers quickly turned into a full-blown conversation across Nigerian music Twitter, forcing the artist to confront his digital past. In his apology, Mavo owned up to his earlier behavior, explaining that during his university days, he fancied himself something of an entertainment critic—though not necessarily a good one. “I was a bad entertainment critic when I started uni until I realized superstars don’t really care about Twitter,” he admitted, revealing the moment he had his wake-up call. The shift came when he pivoted from commentary to creation, channeling his energy into his own artistry rather than critiquing others.

The turning point, according to Mavo, brought unexpected clarity and growth. Since shifting his focus entirely to music, he says life has been “bliss.” More importantly, he’s had the opportunity to actually meet some of the people he once criticized from behind a keyboard, discovering they’re far from the personas he’d constructed in his mind. “I have met most of these people and they actually turn out to be amazing people,” he reflected, offering genuine remorse for the unintended pain his words may have caused. It’s a familiar story in the digital age—young voices getting loud online before realizing the human cost of their commentary. For Mavo, it’s become a lesson in grace, growth, and the power of actually knowing someone before judging them.

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