Veteran dancehall act and a former member of the defunct
Afro-pop singing trio, Plantashun Boyz, Ahmedu Augustine,
widely known as Blackface, has called on fellow musician,
Wizkid, to “stop stealing” his songs.
Blackface who spoke exclusively to Saturday Beats earlier in
the week, said the young hip-hop artiste had been copying
many of his songs for a long time but he decided to keep
quiet just to let peace reign. The Benue State-born raga
performer however said he decided to speak out now
because he could no longer sit and watch someone else take
the glory for his efforts.
The latest controversy follows the release of a new song by
Blackface titled Killa where he was believed to have taken a
swipe on Wizkid for allegedly copying many of his songs
especially two tracks from his Dancehall Business album
released in 2010.
“I never really wanted to talk about it all this while but after
people started checking out my new song, Killa, many felt
Blackface sounded like Wizkid, which I didn’t like.
“If you check properly, you would realise that Wizkid’s hit,
Ojuelegba, sounds exactly the same as the track 13 on my
dancehall album released as far back as 2010. You need to
listen to that album to know what I am talking about. The
song is so similar that I think it shouldn’t be that way.
“Well, in Killa, I sang that “they tried to copy my melody,” and
the bloggers got a hint of the gist and put their reports out.
What I said is the truth and I am going to get to the root of
this matter because I deserve justice.
“The Ojuelegba song has made so much revenue for Wizkid. I
am not bothered about that but I want the industry to be in a
position whereby people will understand that some of the
artistes and the songs they are cheering is someone else’s
efforts, especially fellow artistes that they are doing
everything to bring down. All they are doing is to bring down
Blackface and to say that he is not relevant in the industry.
Some people are bent on killing my legacy. I believe there is
definitely a gang-up against me in the industry and this has
been going on for a long time,” he said.
Asked if he had taken on Wizkid personally on the matter,
the dancehall artiste said he did his best in that regard but
that the response from the Star Boy act shocked him. To get
justice on this issue, Blackface disclosed to Saturday Beats
that he could seek legal redress if Wizkid or others do not
refrain from stealing his intellectual properties.
“There was a time Wizkid followed me on twitter and I told
him that I don’t want him taking my songs and that if he
wants to do any of my rhythm, he should let me know. I told
him that because I was just being a big brother to him. I told
him that our songs can’t be sounding so similar and that if
he wants anything, he should let me know. But after some
time, he ‘unfollowed’ me and it was shortly after then that
the Ojuelegba song was released. I don’t have any problem
with Wizkid or any other person, all I am saying is that they
shouldn’t be tampering with my songs because those are my
properties.
“Wizkid and I do different kinds of music and he doesn’t have
my type of skill. I don’t have a problem with that. I am only
bothered when somebody takes my song and tries to turn it
around into theirs without giving me due credit,” he said.
Efforts to reach Wizkid to react to Blackface’s claims proved
abortive as his phone numbers were switched off. His
manager, Sunday Are, couldn’t be reached as his line was
switched off as well.
Wizkid has been in the news lately for a similar allegation.
Hypertek Music artiste, Dammy Krane, also recently accused
him of stealing one of his songs. The controversy
degenerated into a physical fracas with Wizkid reported to
have thrown a glass cup at Krane which injured him during a
night out at a club in Lagos. The two are believed to have
since mended fence.
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