‘He seems bitter’ – Fans weigh in on Caiphus Semenya’s demand for royalties from AKA songs

After expressing his approval of young musicians breathing new life into classic jams by sampling them back in 2017, Caiphus Semenya has changed his tune a little after realising that slain rapper AKA had used another unauthorised sample of one of his songs. 

‘Our lawyers must handle it’

Speaking to Sunday World about his recent qualms, Semenya explained that he got calls from some people who said they were doing “a compilation of his songs and enquired whether there was an agreement.

“I told them [that] we must not fight; we must not make a big fuss about it. I told them our lawyers must handle it,” he told the publication. 

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Upon discovering that some of the verses of his song were reimagined and used to create AKA’s Diary without his permission, Semenya instructed his record company, Gallo, to deal with the copyright infringement issue on his behalf. 

Not the first time

This is not the first time that Semenya has taken issue with AKA’s unauthorised sampling of his music. 

Back in 2017, AKA used Semenya’s Matswale to make his hit song, Caiphus Song. 

“It’s not only my music that I want young people to embrace, but people like Hugh Masekela and Jonas Gwangwa are among the kind of musicians who’ve made timeless music. When done properly, the young people can do amazing things with the music left for them,” Semenya told TshisaLIVE at the time. 

“I’m all for it,” he told the publication when asked about the song. 

However, he changed his tune following the most recent infringement, recalling meeting AKA shortly after Caiphus Song was released. Semenya said that AKA knew that he had done something wrong by not obtaining Semenya’s written permission to clear the use of the sample. 

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He called the late rapper “a nice young guy” who not only admitted to doing something wrong but he apologised and asked how he could fix it.

“I told him that the song was nice because music doesn’t have to be in one style.” 

He concluded his comments to Sunday World by stating; “These guys are young, they have to learn that this is business, they have to do things the right way. They must do what is correct.”

‘He seems bitter’

Semenya also came under fire when the matter made its way to social media with AKA fans and other people from the hip-hop fraternity weighing in on the issue. 

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