I’ts gone pretty much legal now: The guys at Chocolate City have let out the dogs against their runaway artiste Brymo.
The record label on Monday, October 14, 2013 filed an interim injunction restraining Brymo ‘by himself, agents, representatives from recording releasing distributing and composition, song, musical works or carrying out any activities as a recording or performing artiste through or for the benefit of nay person or organization other than the Plaintiff pending the determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction in this suit‘.
The injunction (Charge No.: FHC/L/1442/2013) was filed at the the Federal High Court of Nigeria in the Lagos Judicial Division Holden at Ikoyi, Lagos State with the plaintiff/applicant being Chocolate City Entertainment Co. LTD and the defendant – Mr Shimi Olawale Ibrahim (aka Brymo). The injunction was supported by an affidavit of urgency and exhibits filed by Choc City’s General Manager Ibukun ‘Aibee’ Abidoye. The court finally approved it on Monday, October 21, 2013.
To cut the long words short, it means Brymo cannot function as an artiste. As told to us by Choc City earlier, Brymo still has an existing contract with the label ending in 2016 and has to release two more albums also.
Choc city boss Audu Maikori had promised to hunt down Brymo after the artiste controversially announced his exit from the label. Things however seemed to have died down in the public front not until Brymo released promotional material for his upcoming third album ‘Merchant, Dealers and Slaves‘. Choc City had however been working in the background, an evidence of that being them intervening in a Spinlet-Brymo album digital distribution deal.
But Brymo boycotted his former label and Spinlet to release the album digitally on iTunes. Chocolate City, insiders tell us are utterly pissed and will go to the ends of the earth to get things straight.
Brymo’s team have informed us that they have not been served any letter and they are quite surprised to find it online. ‘If you are suing somebody, it is at least expected of you to serve the person‘, Lanre Lawal, CEO of The Bail Music Company (TBMC), the outfit that manages Brymo told NET over the telephone.
NET has learnt from other sources that Chocolate City have been threatening anybody who is working with Brymo including the marketers of the album. The singer has also taken to Twitter to cry out, going as far as calling out his former boss Audu Maikori. ‘Audu Maikori has been calling and threatening everyone who wants to work with me, the injustice will not cease‘, @BrymOlawale tweeted this morning.
Team Brymo are fighting back too. Yesterday, TBMC through its solicitors Akinyemi Ayinoluwa and Co. released a statement to NET stating that the only representatives of Brymo is their client (TBMC).
Others have added their thoughts to the brouhaha; Chocolate City Vice President Jude ‘M.I’ Abaga is standing by the label. The Hip-Hop artiste responding to a fan tweet who accused him of not intervening said ‘if u believe that.. Then u r misled. Contracts must be honored. Fin‘. Insiders at Choc City tell us that Brymo and M.I’s relationship deteriorated before the former left the label.
Annie Idibia‘s manager Naomi Adenuga also tweeted her opinion over the matter coming from a more emotional angle. ‘They must be a breach of contract, they must have defaulted in someway*. There’s nufn as unfair as someone fng wt Ur intellectual property*.
The entire industry is watching, to see how this will play out; with many pundits telling NET the future of artiste-label relationships depend on how situations like Wizkid-EME and Brymo-Chocolate City are resolved.
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