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| Victor AD |
On Saturday evening, October 10, 2026, Victor AD posted an open letter on X addressed to “Mama Jam Jam,” Tiwa Savage. It was not a promotional teaser or a casual shout-out. It was a public reckoning, eight years after the fact, for a collaboration that almost happened and then vanished.
“I should have done this a long time ago, but it’s never too late to take accountability for my actions,” he wrote. “Thank you, Mama, for blessing my song ‘Wetin We Gain’ with a verse. Unfortunately, the remix never saw the light of day. I could go on and on explaining why it didn’t happen, but none of those explanations matter more than the genuine effort, love, and creativity you poured into making the song beautiful. For that, I’m truly sorry about how things turned out.” He closed by praising her broader contributions to Afrobeats and the doors she has opened for others.
Tiwa’s reply under the post was characteristically brief and graceful: “I appreciate this. God knows the reason for everything. All love.”
Hours later, a fan reminded Victor AD of an older interview in which he had said he turned down remix offers because he believed God wanted him alone on the song. He did not walk it back. “Yes, I did. And I don’t regret not releasing the remix,” he replied. “I just feel bad that my team and I let her put her time, effort, and talent into recording it without ever releasing the song.” The apology covered the inconvenience and the wasted studio time. It did not reopen the possibility of the verse ever seeing daylight.
The Song That Was Never Meant to Be Shared
To understand why the remix stayed locked away, you have to understand what “Wetin We Gain” meant to Victor AD in the first place. Released on June 17, 2018, via ETIN Records and produced by Krissybeat, the track was not a calculated industry play. It was a raw conversation between a struggling Delta State singer and God, recorded at a moment when he felt close to giving up. en.wikipedia.org
The verses are prayerful and plainspoken: “Lord you know wetin me and you don talk / Make e manifest oh Baba.” The chorus cuts sharper and more worldly: “If we no buy the Benz / Wetin we gain?”
That hustler’s question turned the song into a street anthem. It captured the tension many young Nigerians felt—faith on one side, the relentless pressure for material proof of success on the other.
By the 2019 Headies, it was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Single. The music video has since racked up millions of views. For a singer whose earlier releases had gone nowhere, it was a genuine breakthrough. en.wikipedia.org
Victor has consistently described the song as personal and almost sacred. In multiple interviews over the years, including more recent ones, he has said he decided early that there would be no remix.
“Before ‘Wetin We Gain’ blow, I already tell myself say I no go do remix for the song,” he explained in one conversation. When bigger names came calling, he stuck to the plan. He viewed the track as something God had given him alone. Adding another voice, even a prestigious one, risked diluting that original intent. youtube.com
The Remix That Almost Happened
That conviction did not stop interest. In 2019, someone from Davido’s camp approached him about a remix. Victor declined. “I decided we should do a new song because my hit song already had its own vibe,” he told Punch at the time. The next morning they recorded “Tire You” instead—a separate collaboration that preserved the integrity of the original hit while still creating a new record.
Tiwa Savage got further. She recorded her verse. In early October 2018, NotJustOk ran a #HitAlert post announcing that Victor AD and Tiwa were set to deliver a remix. The expectation was high: her polished, melodic delivery paired with his raw Warri-inflected prayer felt like a natural elevation. Then silence. The track never dropped. No official explanation was offered at the time.
Eight years later, the open letter finally addressed the gap. Victor AD did not claim the decision was purely logistical or label-related. He owned that the remix was never released, expressed regret for the time Tiwa invested, and still maintained he does not regret keeping the original song as it was.
A Contrast in How These Stories End
The timing of the apology is striking when set against another recent Afrobeats controversy involving a shelved verse. In August 2026, Davido discussed on a podcast why his contribution to Wande Coal’s 2021 track “Come My Way” never appeared. He said he had recorded a strong verse under the understanding it would be part of the original release, then balked when the plan shifted to a later remix. Wande Coal pushed back hard on X, insisting the song already had its own release plan and that Davido had no right to dictate terms on someone else’s record. The exchange quickly turned personal—“Mr Little” versus “Mr. Toto beggar”—and dominated timelines for days.
The structural similarities are clear: an established star’s verse left unused on a track that belonged to another artist, questions of ownership, release strategy, and respect. The outcomes could not have been more different. One exploded into public acrimony. The other ended the same evening with “All love.”
That contrast highlights something about maturity, power dynamics, and the value of delayed accountability in the industry. Tiwa, already a senior figure with a long career of her own, chose grace.
Victor AD, once the newcomer who felt protective of his breakthrough, chose public ownership—however late—without reopening the creative decision itself.
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What the Apology Actually Achieves
In Afrobeats, unreleased verses and abandoned remixes are common. Features are recorded, teasers drop, and then projects stall for any number of reasons: creative differences, label politics, shifting priorities, or simple loss of momentum.
Rarely do artists circle back years later to acknowledge the human cost—the time, energy, and goodwill spent by the featured artist.
Victor AD’s letter does that. It does not rewrite history or promise a future release. It separates the artistic conviction (the song was meant to remain solo) from the interpersonal failure (letting Tiwa record under the expectation of a release). That distinction is useful. It allows him to remain consistent with the faith-driven origin story he has told for years while still treating a senior colleague with respect.
For listeners who grew up on “Wetin We Gain,” the episode also underscores how personal the track remains to its creator. Many hits become industry property—remixes, features, and brand partnerships pile on. This one stayed closer to the prayer it started as. Whether that choice limited its commercial ceiling or protected its emotional core is a matter of perspective. Victor AD has made clear which side he lands on.
Tiwa’s response closed the public chapter cleanly. No demand for the verse to drop, no lingering bitterness, just an acknowledgment that some things stay between the artist, the process, and whatever higher reason she referenced. In an industry often fueled by drama, that restraint itself is notable.
Victor AD posted that he had said what was on his mind and moved on. The replies continued, the old interviews resurfaced, and the verse remains unheard. “Wetin We Gain” still belongs to him—exactly as he always intended.
Chioma Adeyemi is an entertainment and music writer at Naijapiz. She covers Entertainment, Music, Videos.
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