Leroy Dzenga
Harare – A producer who worked with Soul Jah Love, Dallas Mazorodze – or DKT – has vowed to defy a request by the late Zimbabwean musician’s family to hold off releasing any new music by the artist.
Days after Soul Jah Love`s death, a number of producers who held his unreleased material uploaded it on YouTube.
More than 10 new Soul Jah Love`s songs were released within a week of Jah Love’s death last month, and the family has pleaded with anyone holding his music to wait for a more structured approach.
The family engaged lawyer Cornwell Muteve to try and stop studios from releasing the music.
“We have since released a warning to the public and now we will engage producers to stop releasing his music. He has two siblings who will be benefiting from the songs,” the lawyer told the media.
However, producers like DKT, who recorded a lot of Jah Love`s music between 2017 and 2021, said he had his own agreement with the musician and he intended to honour it.
“We do not need consent from other people outside the record label on how we release our material. The family was not there when we produced, there were not there when we made agreements. We have songs that belong to us that artists record for us, those songs remain our property and can be released at any time,” DKT said.
The producer went on: “If the family is serious, they will come here and they will ask for the music. We have no issues with giving them but something needs to be done before that.
“When Soul Jah Love came and recorded content we had arrangements, some of them unique to us only. Someone who was not there cannot come and change those.”
A feeding frenzy over a late musician’s work is nothing new. Traditionally, the music of recently departed musicians elicits a surge in demand, and it can go on for years after the death.
