Banky-W reveals song ‘Ebute Meta’ was inspired by 50 Cent, not Rihanna
Contrary to popular assumption, Bankole Wellington, better known by his stage as Banky W, has acknowledged that 50 Cent and not Rihanna was the inspiration for his popular song Ebute Meta.
The father of one discussed his 2008 hit song in the Afrobeat: The Backstory Documentary episode titled “The American Dream and Local Rapper.”
The documentary, which was created by Ayo Shoniya and focuses on the emergence and growth of the Afrobeat genre, had its Netflix debut on Thursday.
Due to the rapper’s reputation at the time for utilizing popular rhythms to promote his mixtape, the vocalist acknowledged that 50 Cent was the song’s inspiration.
The singer-turned-politician claimed he made the same choice when writing his popular song, copying the rhythm of Rihanna’s 2007 hit single, Umbrella.
“2006, 2007 was when 50 Cent was blowing up and he had this promotional strategy of doing mixtapes. He would take the hottest song on radio, take the instrumentals and then changed the words and then make funny versions or crazy version or whatever of them.”
“And he built the buzz in America to the point that by the time Get Rich or Die Trying dropped, it was like insane. So, I was like okay, I’m going to do the same.”