Mavin Records, the label created last by Michael Collins aka Don Jazzy, after he parted ways with former label mate, D’banj, is now short of one artiste. The company issued an official statement yesterday, announcing the exit of Wande Coal, two days after the latter had a row with their boss on Twitter.
Don Jazzy, a celebrated music producer, accused the Afro pop star of stealing his song, Baby Face, released in the early hours of Tuesday. Coal, who felt slighted by the indictment, replied his boss in a manner suggesting he was envious of his (Coal) progress. Coal went on to post two versions of the song online for fans to decipher.
Both parties had been silent afterwards, putting off curious friends and journalists, who expected Jazzy to give more proof that he actually owned the song. The statement by the label management cited irreconcilable differences as reason for the split.
“It is with deep regret that we officially announce the departure of recording artist Wande Ojosipe, popularly known as Wande Coal, from Mavin Records due to irreconcilable differences,” the statement reads.
The company said it found that the vision of the artiste does not align with its renewed philosophy of quality and professionalism to a world-class level, hence the decision to let him go.
It said the decision was taken a few months ago, after legal parties on both sides spent six months trying to reach an amicable solution in terms of musical property rights. The statement says although both parties mutually agreed that a separation would be the best course of action, Coal’s release of Baby Face as his own material is a direct breach of intellectual property law, which compelled an immediate clarification on their part.
“Both Mavin Records and Wande Coal have enjoyed a remarkable run in the their working relationship. It is unfortunate that conflicting priorities contributed to the premature curtailment of a once fruitful accord…We wish Wande Coal the best in all his future endeavours.”
Fans began to suspect that all was not well between Coal and Mavin when few months ago, he released a new single, Kilaju, which was produced by Maleek Berry and released under his Black Diamond imprint.
Things got awry after the release of the fun upbeat track, Baby Face, which got Jazzy taken to his twitter page to blow his boy’s cover.
Coal was one of the reasons D’banj and Jazzy parted ways in 2012, thus the new tussle is a further break up of the group, Mavin, which had Don Jazzy, Wande Coal, Tiwa Savage, D’Prince and Dr SID. Jazzy cannot be said to have full autonomy over savage, as her label 323 Entertainment is merely in partnership with Mavin Records.
With the exit of Coal, industry watchers believe that things might not be the same with the one-year-old Mavin Records.
Don Jazzy and D’banj last year threw barbs in the same manner. Theirs started from a confidential email, which leaked, followed by an exchange of words on the social media platforms.
