The global takeover for African music has been documented in an almost sensationalist manner but a lot is not being said about the efforts artistes are making in landmark crossovers to the international stage. Big label deals are being signed by many artistes today, but very little is known of the sort of deal and agreements signed by the parties involved. One recent case that highlights the painstaking costs of crossing over has put Chocolate City in a position where the label has been forced to take legal action against rapper, Nas, following a feature verse dispute.

According to court documents detailing the suit, Chocolate City is demanding a $50,000 refund from Nas for a deal the label struck with the rapper in 2013 to deliver a guest verse for an M.I. track. However, while Nas delivered his verse, it didn’t follow through with the agreement the label made with the rapper to circle his verse around certain themes including M.I., Nigerian and some of the recent social events of the time. The label promptly rejected this deviation from the initial agreement, demanding for a re-recording of a second take verse. Chocolate City is now suing Nas and his partner, Ronnie Goodman, who represented the rapper as an agent during mediation with the label.

To think the events narrated above happened nearly four years ago—at a time when Afropop was merely taking off and the biggest international collaborator with the genre was Akon—highlights just how much important work artistes are doing behind the scenes to reach the apex. One does only wonder how many instances like this have happened to other artistes, there is also consideration for the high stakes involved in scaling career opportunities. It’s almost hard now to blame M.I. for choosing to publicly address journalists who call out his legacy, the more you see, the less you know right?

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