FACT CHECK: Is Rapper Oladips Truly Dead?

Music lovers and other Nigerians were thrown into mourning when it was announced that a rapper and singer, Oladipupo Oladimeji, aka Oladips, had passed away at the age of 28 on Tuesday, November 14, 2023.

A statement by his management read, “We are saddened to inform the general public that Oladipupo Olabode Oladimeji, aka Oladips, has passed away on November 14 Tuesday evening at exactly 10:14pm. We are still in shock as we speak. For over two years, he has kept (sic) his battles within himself. His body is now with his family, and funeral services will be announced as soon as it is concluded (sic). The family asked that we respect their privacy in this trying time. May god give us all the fortitude to bear this great loss (amen).”

Though the announcement was made on Wednesday morning, the evening before, the rapper had posted a video on Instagram, asking an aide to drive him to the hospital. Shortly after that, another video had surfaced online, purportedly showing the corpse of the deceased in a car with some people believed to be his friends.

A singer and friend of the deceased, Raphael Omoniyi, aka Zlatan Ibile, also shared his last messages with Oladips, where he stated that he had been ill for some time and battling with insomnia.

In the chat, Oladips had written, “My brother, I don’t even know where to start from. Been on it for months, but I guess I’ll be fine.

“At this point, I don’t know. I thought it was stress because I don’t really sleep at night. Right now, it feels like my head is no longer on my neck. It feels light.”

However, as condolences continued to pour in, some people in the industry, including singer, Qdot Alagbe, stated that the rapper was not dead.

A friend of the singer with the handle, @only1wavytk_fka_sircoolest, also wrote on Instagram, “Thank God he is alive…He just finished eating turkey and rice. He is setting up ring light. If the album gets to number one tomorrow evening, he’ll post the apology video.”

The poster, who was said to be a close friend to Oladips, also posted a video of him and some other guys hugging the singer and screaming for joy.

However, shortly after, the friend stated that the video was an old one. He added, “Concerning my video trending about the death of Oladips, I want to clarify that the video is an old one; over two years.

“Secondly, I’m not sure if he is dead or alive. When people were posting that he was dead, I couldn’t believe because I don’t wish him death. It is not possible for Oladips to be dead and that was why I posted that he is alive. He probably might be depressed and going through one or two (sic) and may not be fine, because of the pressure of the album he wants to release and other life challenges. But please, let’s disregard any information. I am sorry for any issue or damage I might have caused because people seem to misunderstand my message. Oladips is a mentor and an inspiration to many young ghetto artistes. I was not chasing clout. I was just wishing him well. How can I use such a situation to chase clout? I was only wishing him well.”

Also, Nollywood actor, Yomi Fabiyi, thinks that the rapper might be testing his popularity by feigning death.

Fabiyi, in an exclusive chat with PUNCH Online on Monday stated that if Oladips was truly dead, his management would have come out to refute rumours that he was alive.

However, while sharing his opinion on the matter, Fabiyi described the  scenario as “Youthful exuberance.”

He said, “It is youthful exuberance. He is alive. Don’t be in the dark. If he was truly dead, they would have come hard on those saying he is alive, for messing around with a grieving family or so.”

He added that there is the possibility the Lalakukulala crooner experienced a “death scare” and decided to “test his popularity” by pulling a “stunt that may work”.

“There’s nothing new in this game. Maybe he is trying to test his popularity. He may have had a genuine death scare and they wished to play around it or he feels it is a stunt that may work.

“The quest for more popularity takes different tolls on people. This is just a personal opinion though. Whatever it is, let’s just wish him well and be hopeful he is alive. His death has nothing to add to anyone”, Fabiyi said.

Meanwhile, the singer’s latest album titled, ‘Superhero Adugbo’ was released by his management on Thursday, November 16.
This made many to question if the singer was really dead, or if it was a publicity stunt to boost the sales of the album.

Also in his latest single, ‘Die Young’, released on October 6, 2023, he had rapped, “People compete with the living and care for the dead/world people will watch you beg for the bread/when you make it or you die is when they care for a friend/bandwagon, everybody jumps on the trend/damn, that was my friend, he was a cool guy/one of the best talents that I knew, he good die/let me post his picture on my story and my page/so the world can see my agony and my pain/reality check, this is everyone’s reality…”

The lyrics of the song further added to the confusion on the Internet, as some opined that it seemed like a carefully orchestrated publicity stunt, while others were of the view that he was just expressing his reality.

However, in a new update on Thursday, the obituary post on the Instagram page of Oladips, has been deleted.

It was gathered that the obituary post was deleted on Thursday.

A new video showing Oladips vibing to a song from his new album, Superhero Adugbo has, however, been posted on the Instagram page.

News surfaced on November 11 that the rapper had died following a health issue he had allegedly been battling with for months.

The death of Oladips has, however, become contentious with social media reports saying he is still alive.