African Queen was one of my favourite pre Afrobeats emergence songs released by music legend 2Face Idibia now popularly referred to as 2Baba.
The commercially successful hit earned him endorsements, top billed shows, yours and lots of female fans giving him heartthrob status.
However all was not fine and dandy in musicville as Blackface a former group member of Plantation Boiz aired out his grievances against 2Baba and Kennis Music alleging he ( Blackface) was not credited as a songwriter to the hit song he wrote which 2Baba released as a solo single.
The accusations went on for decades until a few years back Kennis Music CEO Keke Ogungbe in an interview with The Honest Bunch Podcast revealed that he registered African Queen with BMI a music rights collection organisation in the United States without including Blackface in the credits.
The revelation is a reflection of the music industry and issues of copyright and other music related rights. It is highly puzzling why Blackface never instituted legal proceedings to enforce his rights. These days music artists conduct such issues by bemoaning their fate on social media platforms looking for a pity party rather than seek legal solutions.
Talent is not ever enough. Knowing the business is imperative otherwise there will cases of fame without fortune.
Adejumo Kester is a Lagos-based Attorney.
