Hotkeed says he knows names.
And if any of the Nigerian artists he claims are using streaming farms ever decides to cross him, the Afrobeats singer says he is ready to expose them.
Speaking during a recent interview with content creator Jbrandy, Hotkeed claimed that he knows at least 50 artists who allegedly use streaming farms to inflate their numbers on digital platforms.
For him, the problem goes beyond artists chasing millions of streams.
He believes every artist who artificially boosts their numbers takes attention away from someone trying to grow through genuine support.
If 20 artists are stream farming, you have taken 20 genuine artists back. If 50 artists are stream farming, you have taken 50 genuine artists back. It’s that bad.
Hotkeed says some artists are too impatient to wait for real listeners to find their music.
Instead, they allegedly pay for inflated numbers, then head to social media to celebrate statistics that may not reflect their actual popularity.
What makes his claim more interesting is that he says the people behind the alleged streaming farms have approached him too.
According to Hotkeed, they showed him the work they had done for other artists and tried to convince him to join them.
That is why he insists he knows who is involved.
And he has a warning for them.
If any of those artists using streaming farms ever cross my lane, I would expose them. I know at least 50 Nigerian artists who use streaming farms.
Despite knowing what he describes as an easy way to inflate his own numbers, Hotkeed says he would rather keep things real.
I will rather have 2,000 streams than deceiving myself with 2 million fake streams.
For now, Hotkeed is keeping the names to himself. But his warning leaves one big question hanging over the Nigerian music industry: who are the 50 artists he says he knows?