EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Wizkid Running Away From Nigeria To Avoid Lawsuit Over ‘Theft’ Of My Song – Blackface

Nigerian dancehall singer and songwriter, Ahmedu Augustine Obiabo, popularly known as Blackface, has accused Grammy award-winning singer Ayodeji Balogun (Wizkid) of running away from Nigeria to avoid litigation over the alleged theft of his intellectual property by the singer.

He made the claim in an exclusive interview with THE WHISTLER on Wednesday.

In 2016, Blackface accused Wizkid of copying his song “I Like The Way” in making “Slow Whine”. Two years later, he announced on social media that he had sued the singer for copyright infringement.

A former member of the defunct popular R&B music group, Plantashun Boiz, Blackface similarly took to social media in 2022 to accuse Wizkid of sampling his song titled ‘Twist and Turn’ for ‘Ginger’, a track from Wizkid’s ‘Made In Lagos’ album featuring Burna Boy.

In wake of his recent similar accusation against the fast-rising musician, Asake, THE WHISTLER spoke with Blackface to find out how the lawsuit against Wizkid went and the status of his allegation against Asake.

“I called them (Wizkid and Banky W) out for sampling my song ‘I Like The way’ which they changed to Slow Whine without my permission.

“From that time, they have not reached out to me till today, in fact, I think that is the reason why Wizkid is not staying in Nigeria, he knows he will get served, so they are running up and down from Ghana to Benin Republic to Togo, nobody can find them yet, but once we see them and find out where we can reach them, we will serve them,” he said.

A few days ago, the ‘Hard Life’ singer sparked reactions online after calling out Asake and his label boss, Olamide, for allegedly ripping off his song ‘Ikebe Super’ for the song ‘Joha’.

“They (Wizkid and Burna Boy) sampled my music called ‘Twist and Turn’ and they changed it to ‘Ginger’ and I called them out the same way I’m calling Olamide and his artiste (Asake) out now for them to do the right thing,” claims Blackface who said he might take legal action against Asake as attempts to reach rich him and Olamide have failed.

“I called out Olamide because he is the CEO of the record label. Asake is under (his label) and he was the one that produced the music.

“I reached out to them but they never responded that’s why I called them out just for them to know that what they are doing is bad, our industry cannot be on that path where you have to copy to write,” he added.

Although many have argued that ‘Joha’ bears no lyrical and production similarity to ‘Ikebe Super,’ Blackface insists that his song was copied.

“I released a song in 2020 in the album called ‘Defender’ it’s only normal for them to go and take my music because they like my music, so they always copy my music and give it to their producers to remake it. It’s not only Asake that has done this, so many others have been doing this,” he said.

In the past, Blackface had previously accused his former bandmate, 2Baba Idibia, of failing to credit him for ‘African Queen’ which he claimed they co-wrote.

He maintained that intellectual property theft is a crime that law enforcement agents must take seriously.

“How can we stop a criminal from being a criminal, it is only law enforcement (agencies) that will stop a criminal. Everybody has criminal tendencies, no matter what you will still see people that are thieves being caught and tried. So, people must commit crimes and this is one of the crimes in the Nigerian music industry or the music industry generally.

“We are spending money to be able to make production. So, when you spend your money to create a job and somebody just stays in his room, picks it up and acts like he has created something, it’s very bad,” he added.

Asked what his fans should expect from him in 2023, Blackface said, “We are putting forward the album ‘The Return’ by the Plantashun Boyz. We are also going to put out the album by Trybunalz titled ‘What We Are, the deluxe version. Also, we have been working on Rocksteady’s album, it will come out.”