Here’s a very interesting piece
about the Don Jazzy/Wande Coal quarrel written by Ms. Uduak Oduok, an
Entertainment attorney.It’s a must read, guys, though it’s quite long
though. Had to edit to make it shorter.
On a day that should have been
all about Tiwa Savage’s release of her song ‘Eminado’(Goodluck charm)
featuring Don Jazzy, Don Jazzy totally pooped on that parade and
brought the bad luck charm by undermining Tiwa Savage’s shine with his
silly cries on twitter about an alleged theft by his former artist.
Are Wande Coal and Don Jazzy
mates? What rubbish?! Why is Don Jazzy, the egbon (older one and adult)
and most importantly the boss getting on Twitter and stooping down to
this kind of level as a business owner and leader in the industry?
It is embarrassing and
unacceptable. It also is ridiculous because from the facts, HE CREATED
THE PROBLEM. How, at this point in your career, do you get into a
studio with your artist and not delineate the lines on who owns
what? If you made music under Mavin Records, the music belongs to
Mavin, if you signed the proper legal documents evidencing this basic
arrangement. You’ve got the sound recording belonging to Mavin. The
lyrics and composition also probably belong to Mavin, at least a large
portion.You clearly did not do this because Wande Coal can produce the
original demo song of which he co-authored with you; with no
delineation of those rights spelt out.
Are we supposed to cry or be sad
for you? Why?As Wande Coal correctly indicated in his tweet, Jazzy has
Coal’s phone number and contacts and could have easily contacted him to
resolve the dispute, privately. He did not do so. Instead, he chose to
follow an impulsive, selfish and egotistical act on twitter that
instantly shifted the attention from the release of Tiwa Savage’s
beautiful ‘Eminado’ video, all in less than twenty four hours, to a
showing to the world that Nigeria’s music industry and its leaders have
no focus, no direction and is a big joke.
When was the last time you saw
any of the label heads in the USA, including Jimmy Lovine, Diddy and
even Kanye West get on twitter to fight artists who allegedly steal
their work?Okay. Hold up. Wait a minute. Don Jazzy owns Mavin Records.
Tiwa co-owns 323 with T-Billz. Shouldn’t Don Jazzy at this point in his
career know that he undermines the marketing and selling of Tiwa
Savage’s song with this foolishness? What’s the brand partnership
agreement they signed? Anyone have a copy because there should be a
clause preventing this kind of behavior. Yes, I am really tired with
the foolishness.
Our industry is just looking a
big mess and very stupid to me right about now. We look foolish both
locally and internationally. We act stupid with our business ventures,
we are very reactionary on social media, we let egos get in the way.
Have y’all heard of Chinedu
Echeruo? The Nigerian-American who created HotStop in New York and this
year allegedly sold the company to Apple for $1Billion? For all the
years Echeruo helped build and operate his company, you never heard the
fella display the kind of ego that he should arguably display. As he
said, he checked it at the door, and today, we all point to him as a
shinning example of what a successful Nigerian owned business and
entrepreneur should look like.
Can we all take a page from
Echeruo i.e. have a healthy dose of humility, get your entertainment
business in order and have even more humility? Who said it would be
easy? Practice! Our industry was exciting, fun, young and filled with
so much hope but in less than two years, it looks a shamble. From 9ice,
Mo’Hits, Knight House, Storm 360 to eLDee (I am unsure why everyone
keeps leaving Trybes Records, including Sarz, of late), EME, to
Chocolate City and so many other labels in between, you gotta ask, what
the heck is going on?
We want to be like the West, yet
we lack the common sense to set the legal precedent and have our
Nigerian courts determine legal issues that can move our society
forward; to ensure the sustainability and success of our
industry. Jesus, what’s with this foolishness? Really? If we have
issues with our young ones, then sort them out privately because if we
can’t respect those behind us, guess what, they won’t respect us either
and what lies ahead will not be pretty for us.I, for the life of me,
have no idea why we are even here.
Can anyone tell me?Oh! Don Jazzy
says Wande Coal stole his song from him. Don Jazzy at every step of
this particular brouhaha clearly failed to protect the alleged rights
stolen, which is unacceptable from a seasoned businessman, artist and
music producer WHO WAS THE LABEL BOSS FOR A YOUNG MAN THAT HAS WORKED
WITH AND LOOKED UP TO HIM FOR HIS ENTIRE CAREER! But, oh! We are
suppose to cry with him on twitter. Because why? Oh! And don’t get me
started on COSON, MCSN and all the other entities adding to the current
foolishness in the industry.*Sigh* I’m tired from all the foolishness.
Sheesh.
-Uduak
