Mo’Hits War: Lawyer calls for amicable settlement

D'banj and Don Jazzy
| credits: File copy

With last week’s exclusive revelation of private correspondences between bickering founders of Mo’Hits, D’banj and Don Jazzy, the end obviously has come for the enviable odyssey and partnership of the beloved collaborators. However, the label’s lawyer (name withheld) has called for caution from both parties. In yet another correspondence exclusively obtained by E-Punch, the lawyer has advised both parties to sign over their stakes in their two major companies, Mo’Hits and Koko Holdings, so that each person would hold on to one.

The lawyer states, “In Consideration and Mutuality of D’Banj signing over to you (Don Jazzy) his entire stake in Mo’Hits Records Limited, you in return sign over to him your stake in Koko Holdings Limited, with the Catalogue now undifferentiated as between ‘D’Banj’ and ‘non-D’Banj’ sub-catalogues, (which is) in keeping with your express wishes. In view of recent events which are indeed surprising, I think it is an optimal way forward. Before Mo’Hits imploded, the relationship between D’banj and Wande Coal, one of the artistes on the label, had been anything but cordial. The Mushin-bred singer was reportedly rude to D’banj at the height of the success of his debut album, leading to his being placed on suspension from releasing any song. The album was released in 2009 and up till December 2011, no new material came from him except for a collaboration with Ghana group, R2Bees, on the song, Kiss Your Hand. Thus, pitching his tent with Don Jazzy is perceived as getting back at D’banj. He even has a word for the Kokomaster; “God, please don’t let the success you have given me get to my head to the extent that I will forget my humble beginnings.”

For D’Prince, who had not tweeted since January, D’banj’s statement that he bought a LR3 Jeep for him valued at N11m to shore up his image as a Mo’Hits ensign, brought him back to the micro-blogging site. Waxing philosophical, the gangling singer-rapper tweets, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” He continues, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new….Thou shalt not bear FALSE witness against thy neighbour – 9th Commandments.” Dr Sid, on the other hand, has not reacted to the leaked emails but responding to a fan who asked on whose side he is, he replies, “If you had Don Jazzy, would you leave?” Those in the know claim that the University of Ibadan graduate has always murmured that he could be as big a star on the label but for D’banj’s overwhelming influence. Little wonder, they never really got along. The on stage camaraderie was a façade.