INTERVIEW: ‘How Mr Eazi stole my song, disrespected me’ – Zaaki Azzay

It’s been four years since Benue-State-born singer Zaaki Azzay accused his younger colleague, Oluwatosin Oluwole, aka Mr Eazi, of copyright infringement, and it seems their feud is far from over.

In 2019, the singer accused Mr Eazi of lifting ‘Marry Am’, his 1996 single, to produce ‘Do You’, a collaborative single with Michael Owusu Addo, aka Sarkodie.

However, Mr Eazi, reacting to Zaaki’s allegation, confirmed that the new track samples Azzay’s ‘Marry Am’; he also promised that the issue “would be resolved quickly”.

Four years later, Zaaki has revealed that their misunderstanding is far from resolved.

In this exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Zaaki claims that, despite initial efforts to resolve the matter, Mr Eazi has since avoided communication, leaving the issue unresolved.

Excerpts:

PT: How has your relationship with Mr Eazi been since the copyright infringement dispute?

Zaaki: He is my younger colleague, and we didn’t have any issues, not until he started avoiding me after stealing the music. Although he pleaded, we discussed, and after accepting his prayer for peace to reign, he started avoiding me and has since been unreachable.

PT: In an interview with Channels in Ghana, Mr Eazi said it was only a sample and the issue ‘would be resolved quickly’.

Zaaki: It is not proper when you want to remake somebody’s work, especially music, without informing the originator; the most painful part is that we had started doing the remix of that song in the studio when I just heard it suddenly, Sarkodie featuring Mr Eazi and he was signing ‘Na Me Go Marry Am’. So we had to cancel the remix, I had even spent money on the project of doing the remix, but we had to cancel it.

PT: Did Mr Eazi contact you after you called him out for copyright?

Zaaki: He reached out to me, and we spoke; he pleaded and said that he was sorry and that he was going to do the needful; he noted that it was a mistake on his part, that he should have informed me first, and all that. Eventually he called me, and we spoke for a very long time, and we involved Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (MCSN) which I was registered to.

PT: So, what was the resolution after he reached out to you?

Zaaki: We initially agreed on 35 per cent, and he would also acknowledge me, which for me is more important, but he declined and pleaded that I should accept less than half of the percentage I had initially proposed.

For peace, I agreed and told him to do the needful, but since then, I have never heard from him. The painful part is that I feel disrespected; it is total disrespect if you ask me; we had a discussion, I proposed my bargain, and at the end of the day, I accepted whatever you were throwing at me, and at the end of the day, you disappeared, you are not picking your calls any more, your numbers are not going through anymore.

PT: Have you involved the law enforcement authorities?

Zaaki: Right now, the court is trying to serve him, but we can’t locate him; we have gone to two addresses, and they said he had moved. That is where we are now. I even sent him a message on social media, where I told him that if I cannot reach him, I will take it out on him on social media. He read it and ignored it

PT: With all these dead ends, considering that the issue has lingered for four years now, is it a case you might let go?

Zaaki: That case is not a case I would let go of because I feel very disrespected, and that cannot happen. I have evidence of everything I am saying; some of our conversations are on WhatsApp chat.

PT: What have you implemented to reinvent yourself and stay relevant?

Zaaki: Well, the last song I released, ‘Notice’, did well on the chartboard. My music has evolved, but I have not changed from traditional hip hop. I have always said that Mercedes has not changed; it’s just redesigned, but the engine has always remained a Mercedes, like Coca-Cola. So, my music has not changed; it is just the beat and the producers.

Right now, I have done a song with Magnito, and the theme is coming out soon; I also did another piece with Dija of Mavin Music, which is coming out soon, too; I also have another song with Jayteza, who is an upcoming artiste from my place in Benue State. I am also looking forward to reaching out to Olamide because that is the last person I want to feature with before releasing my EP.

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PT: What are the qualities do you look out for in the artiste that you feature?

Zaaki: I like unique artistes; who can you compare with Magnito, the way he raps? It’s just out of this world; nobody sounds like him. I also think that nobody sounds like Olamide in the Nigerian industry. I also think Dija is one of the biggest things that came out from the North. Aside from Zaaki Azzay, she did well, and as a woman, she is perfect, and I am encouraged to do music with her.

PT: You are acclaimed to be one of the artistes with a studio; how did it help your career?

Zakki: I was the first Nigerian artiste to have a professional music studio at Allen (Lagos). Many hits came out from that studio. I have always been a producer, and I have also had producers working with me; one of the things I did to evolve was to stop producing myself and start flirting with producers. I got a different feel from different people, and I followed what was trending. You don’t have to change your style; all you need to do is improve; that is what I have been doing.

PT: On the copyright issue, what do you think should be done?

Zaaki: I feel sorry for most of the upcoming Nigerian artistes; there is so much money they are losing, so much they do not know. They do not know how to sign a contract, and they do not know how to protect their intellectual property. Only one thing rings in their head: I want to blow; that is not how it is supposed to be.

PT: What advice would you give to the younger generation of artistes?

Zaaki: If you ask me, I would advise artistes that, ‘once you are coming into the music industry, once you are vying to be a star, you want to blow, calm down and read about the business of music; you need to know how the business side works, that is why it is called show-business’.

PT: Speaking about Showbiz, how was it for you?

Zaaki: It took me years to understand show business. I lost a lot of money, and I keep saying this because I don’t want those behind me to make the same mistakes. I lost money for more than 10 years before I discovered a lot of royalties that I was missing. Back in the day, MI, Ice Prince and I stayed together in Gbagada Estate (Lagos). It was there that MI taught me about royalties and how to stream music online.

There is a lot to learn about being a musician; I think it is not about being in a hurry to come out; prepare yourself well so that you can gather all the benefits and use them to benefit yourself better instead of just waiting for shows, there are a lot of places where you can start making money.

PT: At what point did you start getting royalties for your songs?

Zaaki: Do you remember Channel O during the days of the Benson and Hedges concert? That is what started opening my eyes because when they aired me on Channel O, they paid me in dollars; at that time, I was making millions when you convert the dollars to our currency.

I then saw that even TV stations in Nigeria are cheating us; here in Nigeria, we even pay the radio and TV stations to play our music, but abroad, it is different. It was then I realised that there are a lot of things we need to learn. That is why I encourage young artistes to join platforms like PMAN and MCSN.

When I was talking to Mr Eazi, he asked me questions like, where is this song registered? I told him about MCSN, and they confirmed that the songs were written (registered). Imagine if the music is not recorded; I could not prove that the song is mine.

PT: Based on this, it means that most of the songs most young singers are not registered.

Zaaki: When you talk to them about registering their songs or joining a professional body, most young singers would call you an ‘Old School.’ if you go anywhere in the world, anywhere there is a recording label, where there are agencies, songs are correctly registered. However, even some of these recording labels in Nigeria are run by some people who do not have any music knowledge. Even if you have the capital of having a recording label with zero knowledge of music, I would suggest that you employ someone who is an expert.

PT: There have been a lot of sagas about record labels since the death of Mohbad; what should young artistes look out for in a record label?

Zaaki: It is not in your position as an artiste to look out for things; an artiste needs first to get a lawyer; it is the job of a lawyer to do the digging and due diligence. Some lawyers would tell the record label to show their bank statements, to determine the financial status of the record label, before he agrees to sign any deal with the recording company.

There are so many things to look out for, and it is not for the artiste to look out for them. An artiste must first get a lawyer before they should think about getting a record label. That is just the best way to go about it.

PT: Still on record labels. In your last interview with this newspaper, you said that drug barons and ‘yahoo boys’ are investing in the music industry. Do recent happenings in the industry further validate your opinions?

Zaaki: I said it on social media; I even mentioned names like Naria Marley six years ago. People came after me, but now, it has happened after Mohbad’s death, and people are referring to it. It is not just a Nigerian situation, though; it is common in the music industry worldwide.

PT: How did you sail through with record labels during your heyday?

Zaaki: When I was starting, I went to the prevailing recording label, I went to Premiere, EMI, Sunny Music, and eventually, via Tolu Uge, EMI picked me, and that was how my career started, and there was a structure.

PT: New sounds like Amapiano have emerged, and new genres keep appearing; how would you compare the sounds in the industry in those days and now?

Zaaki: Although one of the trending sounds in Nigeria at the time was Amapiano, which is not Nigerian, the good news is that when a Nigerian does this Amapiano, he always infuses some elements of Afrobeat.

Amapaino is not ruling the world; Afrobeat is; at the end of the day, everybody will come back to Afrobeat.

PT: How do you feel about the recent global waves the Nigeria music industry is making

Zaaki: There is no comparison between now and then, but I can only say that I am glad to be alive to witness the massive growth in the Nigerian music industry.

My only surprise is that I did not expect it to happen so soon. I am so impressed and happy that I live to see what is happening in the music industry because the whole world is now patronising Nigerian music. And Nigeria is the king of Afrobeats; the kind of attention I get when I travel abroad is different.

PT: What were the prices you had to pay for the industry to be where it is now?

Zaaki: At that time, nobody dared to play Nigerian music on their stations, especially radio and TV stations. It was primarily Western, with 95 per cent Western songs and five per cent Nigerian music. When they played Nigerian music, they went for Yoruba music, Sikiru Ayinde, Oliver De Coque, Sunny Ade, and Ebenezer Obey.

It was difficult for us; we were struggling, and we did not have even a little recognition, but what changed it for us in this country is that Nigerians now finally accepted Nigerian music. What sparked this change was the diaspora people; the Moore Hit group contributed, Banky W came in, Tiwa Savage, and even MI, and they brought in their expertise and invested their diaspora knowledge.

I keep telling people that the leadership of Nigeria will change. When Trump was trying to deport all Africans, I was praying to God that he should. No, imagine that every Nigerian abroad is deported. We will not have a leadership problem; everything in Nigeria’s system will change because I have seen it happen in the music industry, which became the catalyst for Nigerian music.

PT: Speaking of Nigeria’s leadership, the country has a new leader; what would be your advice to Nigerian leaders?

Zaaki: My surprise with most leaders is that, as a leader, you have seen how other people in those offices before made wrong decisions and how they ended up, how their greed has ruined their future; it is so shocking that our leaders go there and make the same mistakes. It is pathetic, and I am disappointed, but there is a new leadership, so let’s see what will happen.

PT: What have been your pleasant and unpleasant moments?

Zaaki: Most of the Gen Z artistes are very disrespectful; it is funny that the respect comes from the biggest ones in the industry, the Wizkids and the Davidos; when I get this respect, it is my pleasant moment. Because we fought for what they are enjoying now, it hurts when someone sits on what you struggled for and disrespects you.

PT: Would you say you are fulfilled psychologically, financially, and emotionally?

Zaaki: Financially, I don’t know yet; I am not poor. I am grateful to God, but I want more money. I am contented. But I still want to sing some more, just that there are a lot of young artistes I want to empower their lives, put them through and bring them out, which I have been doing over the years; that is why you would always see me feature unknown artistes. Generally, for you to feature with a famous artiste, you would have to pay a lot of money, so I give them that opportunity to do a song with me and come out.

PT: What advice would you give budding artistes on managing fame and wealth?

Zaaki: The only way to manage wealth is in people; try and invest in people. If I were Wizkid by now, I would have like 200 superstars already made.

I must empower people more; that is the only way you can remain rich forever. If you would like to buy a N1 billion car, the day you buy that car is when it starts to depreciate, but humans continue to grow.