Winner of Vuzu’s Hip-Hop reality show, The Hustle, Flex Rabanyan has admitted to paying payola to have his song playlisted on one of the major radio stations.
The rapper took to social media to reveal that he paid R9 800 to an individual at Metro FM who in turn promised to have his song played on the station.
“Would I be wrong if I post about the guy who works at Metro FM who took R9, 800 from me to playlist my song? i mean the song never played, so I can’t be wrong,” Flex tweeted.
“If I mention this person's name, a host of artists will stop being played at Metrola FM when this person loses their job. Naturally all these other artists will jump up and protect him/her. If I mention, he gets investigated, he is found guilty then he flies!” he added in another tweet.
Flex’s tweets sparked a reaction from other artists who expressed their concerns over the star openly admitting to paying to have his music on the airwaves.
“So, in other words, we wouldn’t know about this if your song was playlisted. This is like telling the cops about the robbery you guys did because your friend didn’t give you your cut. I’m really worried about you flex,” rapper Reason replied.
Flex, however, saw nothing wrong with his actions and continued to defend himself insisting that the payola was an investment as opposed to fraud.
Fans also weighed in on the matter, saying if Flex’s music was any good, he would not feel the need to pay to have it played on the radio.
