Between Fact & Fiction: G-Worldwide Releases Statement Detailing How They’ve Paid Kiss Daniel Over N120m
It appears the legal battle between popular musician Kiss Daniel and his former record label G-Worldwide is far from over. The label has come out to reveal details of the financial transactions between both parties.
Kiss Daniel & Emperor Geezy
There has been a lot of misinformation in the media as to the
background of Kiss Daniel’s wrongful exit from G-Worldwide
Entertainment; firstly the management of G-Worldwide Entertainment
wishes to state it had never been its intention to seek legal redress,
nor join issues with an artist who we fear is being given bad legal
advice. However, we feel it is important that we set the records
straight for the benefit of the general public and others who are
interested in knowing the truth.
We would like to reiterate that our organization’s sole mission is
to scout, develop and promote artists till the point where both partners
become profitable and the artiste can then decide to continue their
creative journey as they deem fit. Contrary to widespread insinuations
(and though we love a good joke) we are not a slave camp and we have no
time whatsoever held any of the talents on our roster against their
will.
The issue of restrictions on collaboration by our artists is one
which has been well flogged and one we will address immediately – our
management policy is unique in that we look for innovative ways to
position our artists to build and own their sound and brands before
seeking to collaborate with artists from other labels. To make this
work, we train and develop our artists in a way that ensures that their
first albums are well composed and delivered in a way that gives them
the platform to sell their art as strong individual brands. This
strategy is not without its results as is evident from Kiss Daniel’s
debut album “New Era” receiving many positive reviews and landing the
8th place on the Billboard’s World Album Chart within a week of release.
The Nigerian music industry is very competitive, and as such, it is
pertinent that players in the market develop unique strategies to break
in and remain relevant.
The New Era album of Kiss Daniel therefore only contained
collaborative efforts with his label mate Sugarboy. However, on the soon
to be released album ‘Evolution’ by Kiss Daniel, we have worked with
other talents such as Phyno and Olamide. Sugarboy has also collaborated
with Y-Cee on a song due to be released in January 2018.
There have also been issues raised that the company has not made
available its books of accounts to Kiss Daniel, leading to him filing an
action at the Lagos State High Court seeking an order granting him
access to the books of the company. Whilst our lawyers have filed the
necessary papers to strike out the suit, it is pertinent that we briefly
note that at no time have we denied the artiste or his lawyers access
to our books. With the facts we have, it is our belief that the suit is a
ploy to misdirect the public away from his untimely and unlawful exit
from the company. The label has records of email correspondence with
Kiss Daniel where he and his representatives at different times
requested for books of the company and same were supplied to them. All
these have been placed before the court in response to the suit filed by
the artist at the Lagos State High Court. Until now neither he nor his
representatives have responded to papers filed challenging the
competence of that suit. Sadly too, even though Kiss complained about
access, in another breath he has admitted the audits held by his
accountants and the label’s accountant.
Apart from the above, there have been rumours that Kiss Daniel has
been on a monthly stipend of NGN 50,000 (Another great joke if we ever
heard one). It is a known fact that such amounts will be insufficient to
find and retain a decent apartment in Lagos nor cater for the lifestyle
of any Nigerian celebrity. Kiss Daniel, contrary to that rumour, has
received substantial allowances over the last two and half years. In
2013, he was offered a 360 deal, and the terms of the initial contract
have been reviewed twice in his favour, whilst the company has had to
bankroll obligations relating to advertising, promotions, music
production, videos, trips, wardrobe etc. at different times. Indeed, the
company has been quite flexible with our remuneration policies with the
belief that he will be able to build a solid financial base for
himself. For the avoidance of doubt the following are some details of
how the label catered for his financial needs as well as his personal
welfare:
1. Contrary to rumours making the rounds that Kiss Daniel was only
on NGN 30,000 salary since he joined the label up until after the
release of the Woju and Laye singles, this is nothing but falsehood.
Before the release of those singles in 2014, Kiss Daniel was being paid a
monthly allowance of NGN 30,000 to cover basic personal costs whilst he
was still in his father’s house in Kuto, Abeokuta, he was also given a
medical allowance of NGN 150,000 and other unrecorded stipends whilst no
revenue was being generated by him. This remained the norm while the
label invested heavily in recording sessions, productions,
transportation, and other costs associated with developing him as an
artist.
2. Loans of up to NGN 550,000 were given to him within 2 weeks of
his signing onto the label for him to get a car for his mom to start a
Taxi business. There are documents to back this. In addition following
his request for financial support for his dad’s burial, G-Worldwide
released the sum of NGN 200,000 to him which was exactly what Kiss
Daniel requested for. As recent as October 2017, he again requested for a
loan to run his account in order to acquire a house for himself under a
mortgage, to this end the company released NGN 13,000,000 (Thirteen
Million Naira) to him though the company was not obligated under the
contract to do so.
3. As per the contract between Kiss Daniel and G-Worldwide, the
label was meant to recoup its investment before any royalty-sharing was
to commence; the only provision available for the artiste was allowances
and loans which would be at the discretion of the label. In June 2015
following his return from his UK tour, the company amended the contract
and immediately began the payment of royalties as agreed and from that
time till the wrongful termination of his contract. G-Worldwide has paid
Kiss Daniel the sum of NGN 117,233,318 (One Hundred and Seventeen
Million, Two Hundred Thirty-Three Thousand and Three Hundred and
Eighteen Naira) as royalties from performances alone, he has also
received money from other incomes to the sum of NGN 3,296,826.40 (Three
Million, Two Hundred and Ninety Six Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty
Six Naira and forty kobo) for the financial record of 2016 as opposed to
the false allegations made by him and his lawyers (The company’s books
of account support this) As it stands, Kiss Daniel owes G-Worldwide
Entertainment quite a large sum of money for the financial year due to
end in 2018.
4. Following the signing of the contract in 2013, Kiss Daniel moved
into an apartment furnished by the label in April 2014 in Lekki Lagos
and only moved out in October 2015. Despite the terrible picture painted
by Kiss Daniel to the media, the label actually during that period
undertook the payment of all the bills in the said apartment, including
waste, power, service charges, feeding, etc.
5. We have also noted the falsehood that at the time of his
father’s demise, the label barred him from attending the burial. Let it
be on record that immediately the news of his father’s demise filtered
in, Emperor Geezy, CEO of the label authorized that his own personal car
is used to convey Kiss Daniel to Abeokuta to attend and be a part of
his father’s burial. The label CEO’s brother even accompanied him on
this trip, as well as one of the label’s staff. Interestingly on
arriving at a hotel in Abeokuta which had been fully paid for by the
label, he refused to attend his own father’s burial on the grounds that
he believed that his family are fetish and were responsible for his
father’s death.
6. In response to the claim that Kiss Daniel was barred from
supporting other artists, especially those who supported him and the
label at the New Era album launch, we would like to put it on record
that at no time has the label barred him from performing at events where
friends in the industry have asked for his support. We understand the
importance of collaborative efforts in a fledgling industry such as
ours. Kiss Daniel, however, has made it a habit to turn up at events
late or not at all, always blaming the label for his truancy. Clear
examples include his failure to appear at the Reekado Banks album
listening party at Hard Rock Café and the recent 2Baba Buckwyld ‘n’
Breathless Concert on 22nd of October, 2017 at Eko Hotel. He did this
even when 2Baba had provided two separate accommodations for him and his
manager Louiza Williams at Eko Hotels, and the label had covered other
logistics costs. He stood up 2Baba and manager after claiming he was on
his way from 6pm till 1am the next day. He repeated the same show of
shame at the Chronicles of Ushebebe and Soundcity’s 2016 MVP Awards. His
excuse always being that the label has restricted him from supporting
other talents in the industry. His favourite saying: “You know I’m
signed to a label na, I’m not my own boss yet”. One should wonder why
his manager would be at these venues to liaise with the event organizers
before his arrival if he wasn’t approved by the label to be at those
events. His usual play was to ask the manager if money is involved and
once she says “no we are going to support” he will either not take his
calls once she’s around his house for takeoff, or switch off his phones
and later complain that he was not feeling too well or had an urgent
meeting at Abeokuta.
Last year, many people wondered how we managed to pull off such a
massive concert for his New Era album launch with no support from any
organization. That event which included the lease of the prestigious Eko
Hotels with over 20 superstars was one of the most expensive projects
the company ever embarked upon.
Nevertheless, we understand that artists grow with their songs and
popularity, and may eventually seek an early exit. That being said, a
contract between two parties is a legally binding arrangement and both
parties having deployed resources to perform obligations thereunder must
ensure that the contract is executed or terminated in line with its
terms and conditions.
G-Worldwide’s contract with Kiss Daniel simply put, allows for the
artiste to exit, but in so doing, he is duty bound to repay to the
company all monies expended by the company in furtherance of the
contract and all losses; including losses suffered from the cancellation
of fixed events and shows by reason of the termination. The contract is
also expressly clear on the fact that intellectual property rights to
all the songs produced under the contract including the stage name of
the artiste are properties of the company. We know that so far, Kiss
Daniel has kept these facts away from the public; choosing to resort to
cheap blackmail and whipping up emotions. We will not take this route as
a responsible company and this is why we are in court.
We have done our best not to harp on the history of his
recalcitrance. Nevertheless, we are harassed by different lawyers (his
present lawyer is the fourth) with outrageous demands, but we have
retained the opinion that some terms cannot be imposed on us. Most
recently in October, he demanded going forward, 100% of revenues from
his performances and endorsements even while he understands his level of
indebtedness to us and the terms of the contracts. When he was referred
to the contract terms, his response was to serve us a termination
notice without even following the stipulations for termination under the
contract. He thereafter announced his personal record label in less
than nine (9) days after the undue notice and has since been soliciting
bookings and infringing on G-Worldwide intellectual property rights by
performing songs from the ‘New Era’ album and the yet to be released
‘Evolution’ album. This is the reason for the Federal High Court order
of the 30th November 2017 stating that “both parties are ordered to
maintain status quo ante bellum under the recording contract pending the
hearing of the motion on notice.”
Law abiding organizations and business concerns have either
contacted us for clarity, which we have provided through our solicitors,
Calmhill Partners. Other well advised entities have in support of the
rule of law and sanctity of contracts, terminated their engagements with
him or removed him from performance schedules. The Nigerian musical
industry we believe will learn and grow from this incidence.
We have put everyone who wishes to contract Kiss Daniel on notice
and advise that you should not allow yourselves be misinformed about the
subject matter or be swayed by his misrepresentations or lack of
capacity to perform some of the songs that he has been contracted to
perform. Whilst we look forward to a speedy dispensation of justice in
the matter before the Court, we reiterate our advice that event
organizers should consult their lawyers to avoid being complicit in the
offence of acting in contempt of court.
It remains illegal to deal with Kiss Daniel directly instead of G-Worldwide Management pending the hearing of the suit in court.
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