Nigerian rapper and activist Falz has spoken about the internal battles he faces when dealing with online trolls, revealing how close he’s come to clapping back at offensive comments but ultimately chooses restraint.
The rapper appeared as a guest on the recent episode of the Dear Ife podcast series, where he spoke on his activism, new music, love life and overall life in the spotlight. He emphasised the frustration caused by online negativity and how he consistently restrains himself from responding to offensive comments directed at him.
It’s annoying and I’m not going to lie. A lot of moments I see comments people make here and there and I wonder, ‘Are you stupid? Or daft?’ But what can I do? I also have to do a lot of holding back. I have to hold myself back a lot!
Falz opened up about his thought process when dealing with online trolls and how he convinced himself to stay silent.
There are moments when I just have to stop and tell myself, ‘This person is not worthy of my voice.’ I tell myself that I can’t react to certain people and there have been times when I was close.
Falz credited his restraint to maturity, discipline, and a solid support system.
Thankfully I have a great management team; they keep me grounded and I remember. I remind myself from time to time that it’s not worth it and at the end of the day, I’m a firm believer that the truth will always come to light.
Legally, I would always respond, if anything is after my reputation and it’s untrue I would definitely go legal. The case is still in court, I’m not going to do tit for tat with anybody, are they mad?
