WIZKID LEFT EME's RECORD

Facts have begun to
emerge regarding the real
story behind Wizkid and
Banky's fallout. The
reason is not unconnected
with the rising sensational singer being made a cash
cow for the EME label. An Insider opened up that Wizzy
(his nickname) is at war with
Banky W and EME because he
wants a contract review which
Banky W has refused to grant
him. The source pointed out that
since Ayodeji Balogun known as
Wizkid signed with EME, he has
been getting just 25% from
whatever he gets paid to
perform at an event with Banky W's Empire Mate
Entertainment. EME is owned by Banky W and
Segun Demuren who get 50%;
and Osagie, Wizzy's ex-manager
who introduced him to Banky
after big record labels like Mo-
Hits and Storm records rejected him, also got 25% from
his hard earned money. "It is true they are having
problems and this might just be
the end of EME and Wizkid.
When Wizzy signed his first (and
last)contract with EME late in
2009, he saw Banky as his messiah because he was
nobody in the music industry. It
was a 75-25 sharing formula. Then Wizkid didn't mind because
he was bent on building his
musical career. In his contract,
Banky W promised to take care
of his accommodation, feeding
and also his school and based on this fact, Wizkid accepted all
the terms of agreement. Later,
Wizzy sacked his manager,
Osagie replacing her with
Godwin because he felt she was
getting too much. Wizkid was getting just 25%
from every show because EME
would take 50% while Osagie
was taking 25%." Says an inside
source. Wizzy sacked Osagie because
she was not ready to receive
10%, but it doesn't end there.
He was also having problems
with Osagie who refused to
come to terms with the fact that he was no longer the boy
she picked up 4 years ago and
couldn't be bossed around. The two had a bad falling out
during which things
deteriorated to the point
where they began calling each
other names. After the fight,
he sacked Osagie. This development did not go
down well with Banky W but
because Wizzy was close to the
end of his contract with EME,
he gave in. Osagie was replaced
by Godwin, who works for EME, and still continued too get 25%.
So till the expiration of the old
contract, 75% was still going to
EME, while Wizkid made do with
25%. When Wizkid's contract expired
late last year, he wanted a
contract review requesting the
75-25 sharing formula be
reviewed to 50-50 but Banky
would not accept his proposal. Banky wanted EME to provide a
manager who would keep
taking 25%, but Wiz insisted he
wanted 50%, and that he would
pay his manager out of his own
pocket. This issue had been dragging
since September 2012 and that
could have explained why Wizkid
moved out of Banky's Ogudu
GRA residence and got a new
apartment in Lekki. What got Wizzy miffed was that
he was making all the money
for EME and was getting less.
Also, the money being made
was being used to finance the
project of other EME stars namely, Niyola, Skales and
Shaydee. Apparently Wizkid's
international fame gave him
more confidence to stand out
on his own. Riding on this
platform, he signed a
management deal with Disturbing London, an
international management
company. Right now, his second
Album is ready and features
stars like Wale, Chris
Brown ,Tinie Tempar and others. Another inside source also adds:
"the last time Wizkid charged
1million for a show was about 3
years ago. Before his fracas
with EME, he was charging
nothing less than three million per show, and the fee for
corporate shows was way
higher. In a week, Wiz was doing at
least three shows, and raking
in nothing less than 6million
naira for EME on the average,
totaling up to about 24 million
naira per month. During festive periods, particularly Christmas,
the amount he raked in was
about triple that amount or
more, and he charges even
more for international shows. Then there were
endorsements, the biggest of
which was the PEPSI deal for
which he was paid a staggering
sum of $365,000. Of all these,
Wizkid was only getting 25%. " The final straw was Banky's
album launch recently. Wizkid
was not invited for the show
but he went all the same to
show solidarity for his former
label boss. Also, before the show, the contract review
argument was still on ground
and Wizkid was hoping the label
would reconsider and take his
offer. What he really wanted
was 50%, out of which he would pay his manager, bodyguard,
and mopol entourage, which he
thought was reasonable. However, during the show, Wiz
was snubbed. The label refused
to acknowledge his presence,
and with this, the relationship
with EME was severed. Wizkid is
now operating under his own label STARBOY RECORDS. So serious is the EME-Wizkid
fallout that the label is now
making people take sides.
Sources say EME members no
longer want to have anything
to do with Wizkid and anyone that has any dealings with him. Banky W may not have given
his side of the story but
insiders note that Banky has
spent a lot to make Wizkid who
he is now. He feels Wizkid is not grateful
and has forgotten where he
was coming from. Sources say
that Segun Demuren, Co-owner
of EME has vowed to deal with
Wiz-kid and make him regret ever leaving label. With all said and done, here is
wishing both parties all the
best in their future endeavors.