{"id":9620,"date":"2026-09-11T18:43:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isokovibe.com.ng\/blog\/?p=9620"},"modified":"2026-09-11T18:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:43:09","slug":"bella-shmurda-just-admitted-he-once-stole-a-bicycle-to-pay-for-studio-time-and-nigerians-are-here-for-the-honesty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isokovibe.com.ng\/blog\/bella-shmurda-just-admitted-he-once-stole-a-bicycle-to-pay-for-studio-time-and-nigerians-are-here-for-the-honesty\/","title":{"rendered":"Bella Shmurda Just Admitted He Once Stole a Bicycle to Pay for Studio Time, And Nigerians Are Here for the Honesty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bella Shmurda opens up about stealing a neighbour’s bicycle in Okoko to fund a studio session, selling it for \u20a67,000, and later making things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Bella Shmurda was filling stages and topping street-pop playlists, he was just a broke young guy in Okoko, Lagos, doing whatever it took to get studio time. And apparently, “whatever it took” once meant stealing his neighbour’s son’s bicycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a resurfaced interview clip, originally from an Echo Room appearance about four years ago, now making its rounds online again, Bella got real about one of his lowest moments before fame found him. He explained that a young boy who lived in the flat above him used to park his bicycle downstairs, right where Bella had easy access to it. One night, temptation won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There was one boy, he had a bicycle. I was living downstairs, that’s where they used to park the bicycle… One midnight, I carried that bicycle and went to sell it,” he admitted. He hid it for a bit before eventually taking it to Alaba and selling it for \u20a67,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what was that money for? Studio sessions, of course. “To pay half of studio session,” he said. “Shoutout to the boy… e pain me, but I didn’t have any choice.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch here <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/x.com\/instablog9ja\/status\/2097592518267355434\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the thing though, Bella didn’t just leave it there. He said he later found the boy and bought him a brand new bicycle to make up for what he did. So there’s an actual redemption arc in this story, not just a confession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why bring this up now? The clip resurfaced as part of a longer conversation where Bella was asked what advice he’d give young people trying to break into music. His answer was basically: don’t go down the crime route, because it never stays small, it always spirals into something worse. The bicycle story was his way of showing just how far desperation once pushed him, and why he doesn’t want anyone else to feel they have to make that same choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, most people reacting online aren’t dragging him for it. A lot of fans are actually praising the honesty, pointing out that he was young, broke, and chasing a dream, and that he eventually made peace with it by replacing what he took.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bella Shmurda, born Abiola Ahmed Akinbiyi, blew up in 2019 with “Vision 2020” and its Olamide remix, and he’s still one of the biggest names in Nigerian street-pop today as the face of Dangbana Republik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bella Shmurda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes the wildest part of an artist’s rise isn’t the fame, the stuff they had to survive to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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