By OKECHUKWU PEACE
2Baba Idibia’s Manager, Efe Omorogbe, has reacted to the allegation of song theft leveled against 2Baba by Blackface.
It would be recalled that Blackface had slammed his former band mate of the defunct Plantashun Boiz for stealing his ‘Somebody Loves You song’ saying,
According to the ‘Erima crooner’, he was out there in the wilderness and 2Baba never called because he wanted him dead so that he (2Baba) could take his ‘properties’.
“All said and done with! You did not ask that you want to record my song? Since you decided to hide, you know I still will let you know a piece of my mind, Official 2baba and we’ll meet in court about the publishing,” Blackface had earlier threatened.
2Baba, had in a chat with Channels TV’s Entertainment News said, ‘It is quite unfortunate.”
When asked about the allegation, he responded with “I do not know where it is coming from but I am trying to think of different reasons.
“My brother, it’s just so unfortunate. At first, I thought his account was hacked or something. Let’s leave it like that for now,” 2Baba had said in his reaction.
As the ‘song theft’ saga lingers, 2Baba’s manager, in a release, has categorically stated that 2Baba did not and couldn’t have stolen ‘Let Somebody Love You’ from Blackface.
According to him, the said song was released about 2 years ago.
He said Blackface complained about his name being misspelt on the CD sleeve and he personally apologised to him.
Omorogbe said, “2Baba and Blackface do have a bunch of songs they co-wrote in their days as Plantashun Boiz. Both artistes have collectively and individually recorded and commercially released materials from this collection.
“2Baba has always given Blackface (Austin Ahmedu) co-writing credit every time he recorded any song that has Blackface’s input – No matter how minimal. Blackface has neither given 2Baba (Innocent Idibia) co-writing credit nor sought ‘permission’ to record any of the materials they jointly authored.”
The manager further noted that Blackface had earned royalties off his shared publishing rights for about a decade, adding that a huge chunk of income he had made derived from royalties earned by the commercial exploitation of the successful materials performed/recorded by 2Baba.
In specificity, Omorogbe pointed out, “2Baba did not and couldn’t have stolen ‘Let Somebody Love You’ from Blackface. The song was released about 2 years ago. Blackface complained about his name being misspelt on the CD sleeve and we personally apologised to him.
“Yes, Blackface contributed to the writing of the first verse of the song. The second verse was entirely 2Baba. Bridget Kelly wrote her verse and Efe Omorogbe wrote the outro verse.”
The manager also added that, “Efe Omorogbe is not 2Baba’s manager on ‘Let Somebody Love You’ but a co-writer, stating that the outro verse was lifted from the song ‘How?’ written in 1997 and recorded in 1999 at Dolphin studios, Surulere.
“Blackface didn’t write that bit. Couldn’t have written that bit. Blackface cannot in 2016, touch Efe Omorogbe’s writing from 1997. Blackface should record and release his own version of ‘Let Somebody Love You’ and keep 100% publishing on that version. Oops! 2Baba will still be entitled to a share.
“Blackface should be honoured to have shared co-writing credit with 2Baba. I am. For each and every song we have collaborated on. Blackface should be grateful 2Baba recorded their co-authored materials to ensure a lifetime of royalty income for him.
“Blackface is not in 2Baba’s league as a songwriter. Their post-Plantashun Boiz’ catalogs speak for themselves. Blackface should go to court to seek redress if he indeed believes he has a case.
“Blackface should know that nobody ever secured a court judgement via a twitter rant or media tour. Blackface must have realised by now that the unfortunate tirade has not made “Killa” a hit. At least, not at the moment,” Omorogbe said.
