Record producers Sarz, Ozedikus and DJ Kaywise have spoken about the alleged exploitation of producers and DJs by some Nigerian musicians, with each of them sharing their personal experiences.
Sarz sparked the conversation after revealing during a recent appearance on the Afropolitan podcast that so many popular artists exploited him in the past.
“So many popular artists took advantage of me, they would make music with me and not pay me. There is one big artiste I made two songs with but he only paid for one, that day I said anyone who doesn’t have what I’m charging, I’m not working with them then I started becoming a notorious person,” he said.
Reacting to a viral clip of the interview on X, Ozedikus disclosed that he once had a similar experience with an unnamed musician.
He claimed that the artist didn’t only refuse to pay him but also denied him production credit.
He wrote, “After watching Sarz talk about artists taking advantage of him, I remembered 2016/17 when I produced 30+ songs in 2 months for someone. Got paid for none. They dropped one track and I was begging just to be tagged on ig for ‘exposure.’ Still didn’t happen lol.”
Reacting to Ozedikus’ post, DJ Kaywise revealed that he had a similar experience with rapper Eldee The Don, who promised to sign him to his record label in 2012 but reneged on his promise after he did 1,00 mixtapes for him and his artists.
“After seeing your tweets, I remembered in 2012 @eLDeeTheDon promising to sign me to his label… after I made over 1,000 mixtapes for him and his artists in my alaba days. Baba said @NOTJUSTOK would announce it after he signed @EvaAlordiah to the label. That was the first major industry lamba I ever got and that’s why I haven’t signed with any label since.”
DJ Kaywise said he is proud he decided to remain independent after the incident, adding that the decision is beginning to pay off.
Meanwhile, Eldee The Don is yet to address DJ Kaywise’s allegations.