Speaking during a recent appearance on Vbyz TV Cartel, the 44-year-old reflected on the months leading up to the event, describing them as a period marked by intense effort but little public recognition.

Despite earning a nomination for ‘Best Rap Single’, Abaga said event personnel failed to recognise him when he arrived, leaving him and his manager struggling for acknowledgement.

He recounted how, moments before the ceremony kicked off, they were repeatedly moved aside to create room for the actress as photographers focused their attention on her.

“I have been grinding and no one cares about who I am and in February 2008, I was announced as the winner for ‘Best Rap Single’ and literally my life changed that day. I remember I was walking into the crowd with my manager and as we were walking in Omotola came in with her security,” he said.

“The people on the red carpet did not even know I was nominated, so they were just like ‘Common get out of here’. So we went to stand at one other corner and because Omotola was moving from side to side to take her picture, they kept chasing us from place to place.

“I was just looking at stardom and two hours later, I had an award in my hand, a gold plaque from Ayo Animashaun and after that plaque, everybody was like ‘MI is in the game’. After that it was ‘Safe’, ‘Talk About It’ and ‘Incredible Music’.”