Harmonize threatens to sue Diamond over royalties

Harmonize, or Konde Boy as he prefers to call himself, is threatening to sue his former boss Diamond Platnumz over royalties.

He is building a team of lawyers to help launch an attack against Diamond’s Wasafi Classic Baby (WCB) record label.

Since ditching the label, Harmonize claims he has been unable to collect his publishing royalties, accusing WCB of taking his cut.

The Uno singer further alleged that Wasafi has collaborated with music distribution agency Mziiki to reap his publishing royalties.

“Wasafi and Mziiki have partnered to mess with me yet I have done them no wrong. It’s been a tussle to get what is rightfully mine from them so that I can feed my family just like they are doing with their families. Why would they deny me access to my intellectual property rights (IP) and while at it they continue to collect money from my IPs on my behalf?” Harmonize said.

He now wants the newly appointed Culture and Arts Assistant minister, rapper Mwana FA, to help him solve the impasse. The two share a good bond, having recently featured on the same track.

“I am counting on him to help me because I have been unable to collect my publishing royalties for three years.”

Harmonize claims the uncollected royalties run into millions of shillings, revealing he had just received a call from Ziiki Media—another music distribution agency—to collect $25,000 (Sh3.2 million) royalties from them.

He recently featured on Khaligraph Jones’s latest jam, Kwame.

When Harmonize left Wasafi in 2019, terminating his 10-year contract prematurely while in the fourth year, he was forced to pay Sh25 million as the buyout of the remainder of his contract.

Harmonize, discovered in 2016 and turned into a star by Diamond, has always maintained the label was exploitative of him.

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This story was first published on Nairobi News.