Dancehall artiste Shatta Wale has blamed the media for the long-running feud between himself and fellow musician Stonebwoy, saying media narratives drove a wedge between them.

Speaking on Glitch Africa's The Honest Bunch show, Shatta Wale said he and Stonebwoy shared a close relationship before the latter rose to prominence.

"It was the media. They started pushing him against me," he said.

Describing Stonebwoy as someone he grew up with, Shatta Wale said the two spent a lot of time together in their early days.

"Stonebwoy is like my bonafide that I grew up with."

He recalled that Stonebwoy used to visit the first room he ever rented.

"We were recording, smoking together, driving, doing everything together," he explained.

Shatta Wale also said that after the success of his hit song Bandana, Stonebwoy "used to call me daddy."

According to him, things changed when Stonebwoy began receiving media attention and was frequently compared to him.

He claimed the media portrayed Stonebwoy as being "better than Shatta Wale," adding: "That's what got into his head."

Shatta Wale further alleged that Stonebwoy later pretended not to know him after gaining recognition and beginning to associate with media personalities.

He intimated he eventually realised that the media had cast Stonebwoy as an angel while portraying him as a devil, prompting him to respond.

"So I was attacking everybody from any side," he said. "For me, if you attack me, I'll attack this whole studio."

Shatta Wale admitted that the situation became overwhelming, especially as he was already engaged in a public feud with fellow Dancehall artiste Samini.

"From Samini, that headache wasn't small for me," he said.

He maintained that the media played a central role in destroying his relationship with Samini and Stonebwoy when it could have been friendly and entertaining rivalry. He added that similar attempts had been made to pit him against rapper Sarkodie and, more recently, Black Sherif.

"They even tried it with Sarkodie but he didn't want to buy into that," he said. "They even brought it to Black Sherif recently."