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Jah Prayzah

Jonathan Mbiriyamveka Harare Bureau
CONTEMPORARY singer Jah Prayzah is under fire from all quarters after he was last week exposed as a copycat. As a result of the expose, there have been calls on social media networking sites for the Tsviriyo hit-maker to do the honourable thing and return the National Arts Merit Award (Nama) to the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) as the award-winning song, Mwanasikana, is at the centre of controversy.

The musician was exposed last week after an online publication blew the whistle. The lanky singer admitted to our Harare Bureau that he had indeed stolen Ghanaian pop star, Emmanuel Samini’s song, Samini.

Not only did Jah Prayzah use some interpolations, but he copied both the melody and the beat while replacing some of the original lyrics with Shona lyrics.

Asked why he had done so, Jah Prayzah did not show any signs of remorse, but instead professed ignorance about the copyright laws and intellectual property rights.

“I was watching an African movie and I enjoyed the soundtrack. I didn’t know it was a released song. I just thought it was a track made for the movie.

“The beat was good and I was tempted to use it on one of my songs,” he said.

He also claimed that he did not know the composer of the song until recently.

“I didn’t know about Samini and I didn’t know it was his song until a friend sent me a link of the track recently. He just told me to check the similarities between the songs and I realised it was the same track as the one on the African movie.”

Asked if he would return the award, Jah Prayzah declined to comment.

“I’m not going to say anything on that issue. You can go ahead and write whatever you want. In fact, why don’t you come to our offices and have a copy of my new DVD and see if there’s anything to write,” he said.

NACZ deputy director Nicholas Moyo said he was not aware that Jah Prayzah had stolen a song, but admitted that it was a rare occurrence, before saying the arts mother body would take appropriate action.

“I haven’t been in office since last week and I’m not aware of that issue. Perhaps it was discussed while I was away. Since it’s a rare occurrence, I’d like to think that appropriate action will be taken,” he said.

However, it is not only Jah Prayzah who has done the unthinkable. There are several artistes who, like Jah Prayzah, thought they had created new music when in fact they had forgotten where they heard it before.

Names that quickly come to mind include Sulumani Chimbetu’s Kwedu that sampled the track Kajituliza Kasuku by Les Wenyika, Alick Macheso’s Mundikumbuke sampled a track of the same title by Lucias Banda from Malawi and The Thornhill Brothers stole from theme song for a TV series El Dorado.

An official from Zimbabwe Music Rights Association said it was illegal to reproduce another artiste’s beat without permission. Artistes who share beats are also expected to share royalties.

“Using samples can be done legally for as long as there is prior agreement with composers, it’s only bad when artistes flout the rules thinking that no one will know.”