Shallipopi, Medulababy lock horns over originator of ‘Laho’

…I didn’t copy him, but his song has overshadowed mine—Medulababy

By Benjamin Njoku

Two rising Nigerian music sensations Shallipopi and Medulababy are currently engaged in a battle of wits over who originated the lingua “Laho.”

Medulababy, a singer and club hype man, claims to be the pioneer of the song title, citing his November 2024 release of “Uwa Lahor” as proof.

In a recent chat with Showtime, Medulababy insisted that he released “Uwa Lahor” in November 2024, before Shallipopi’s “Laho” was released in February 2025

“I released my song ‘Uwa Lahor’ in November 2024, while Shallipopi released his version in February 2025. So I’m the originator of the song’s title,” he said.

Explaining further, the 31-year-old club hypeman attributed the public’s confusion to limited promotion due to financial constraints. He denied copying Shallipopi’s song, emphasizing the different tunes and lyrics. “But Both songs have similar titles ‘Laho’ and ‘Uwa Lahor’ meaning ‘I beg’ in Benin language,” he added.”

“I released my song last year, I was struggling to promote it because I wasn’t getting support from anyone. I had to hustle as a hype man to raise money to push the song. But I was surprised when Shallipopi released his version on February 21, this year,” Medulababy stated.

Ironically, Shallipopi’s song has overshadowed Medulababy’s, with fans attributing the title’s origin to the more popular artist.

“When people listen to my song, they intend to accuse me of copying Shallippopi while I was the first to release the song. He only removed the word ‘Uwa’ and adopted ‘Laho.’ Medulababy, however, holds no grudge against Shallipopi and he’s open to collaboration any day. He however has no personal relationship with Shallipopi, except the fact that they both have roots in Edo State.

Shallipopi’s ‘Laho’ recently surpassed 30 million streams on Spotify, ranking as the second most-streamed Nigerian track of 2025. Born Abdulsalam Ahmed Oluwadamilola, Medulababy started singing professionally in 2020, despite delving into showbiz at the age of 17. His music style is a fusion of ama-amapiano with Afro vibes