During an appearance on the ‘Hoha’ podcast, Joe El expressed that the frequent comparisons to 2Baba have had a detrimental impact on his career.
He revealed that certain music executives and media figures have barred him from their platforms solely based on his likeness to 2Baba.
“The downsides of 2Baba comparisons almost broke me down. Some presenters at Cool FM and Sound City, and an event planner at Festac Carnival 2013, denied me access to their platforms for looking like 2Baba,” he claimed.
“The Sound City presenter even confronted me at Club Rumours one time boasting that he was the one that ordered presenters at his station not to play my songs because I was mimicking 2Face.
“The event planner at Festac Carnival insisted that I won’t perform because I look like their King 2Face. The same thing happened when I went for an interview at Cool FM; the presenter said he can’t interview someone who imitates 2Face.
“I complained to my mum and my record label boss, Baba Keke but they urged to be calm. Sometimes, when I try to pay homage to 2Face when we meet in public, some of his team members will block me.”
He noted that acceptance from the public began to grow after he collaborated with 2Baba on the song ‘Hold On’ in 2015.
Regarding his departure from Kennis Music after 12 years, Joe El stated, “The contract was over.”