Carter Efe and Berri Tiga are currently at war over the ownership and rights of ‘Machala’, a song they jointly sang.

The song, released on 29 July, was originally an ode to the music superstar Wizkid Ayo Balogun.

The track debuted at the 14th position of 50 on the Afrobeats charts, alongside songs by (Burna boy, Tems, Davido, Rema, Master KG and his idol Wizkid).

Efe, who began his comic career in 2018, is also the first Nigerian skit maker to achieve this feat.

The featured artiste, Berri Tiga’s song, found fame after his freestyle “jo” went viral online and earned him a management contract with BBR Records.

The dedicated Wizkid anthem was yanked off music streaming platforms Apple and Spotify in August.

No reasons were given; however, insiders say it might not be unconnected to the ownership and rights tussle between both artistes.

The fallout between Efe and Tiga began when Berri Tiga, in an Instagram life, said, “I wrote and sang Machala 100 Percent”.

Efe, who unfollowed Berri Tiga on Instagram, accused him of seeking attention.

In an Instagram post, he wrote, “You want public sympathy, and yet you want to be at peace with me at the expense of my integrity.”

Speaking further on the issue, the comedian revealed that to feature Berri Tiga on the track, he dropped another artist.

He said, “Hotkid get verse for Machala song; I tell producer X to remove it because Berri cry gives me say Hotkid go collect him shine for the song. Now you dey claim say na you get the song for Instagram.”

Berri Tiga’s side of the story

In an attempt to clear the air about the rift, Berri Tiga, in an Instagram video, revealed that he never wanted to talk about the issue.

He, however, said he spoke because of Efe Carter’s remarks about him.

He revealed that he was offered a meagre deal of 5 per cent initially and was not carried along since the single’s release.

“We did a song; I sang the song from the beginning to the end, you dropped the song, you are not tagging me on your page, shows, you were not carrying me along. You offered me a 95/5%, you taking 95, me taking 5% for a song I sang from the beginning to the end”, he said.

The singer revealed that Carter sent a deal which included him not having the right to perform the song.

He stated that they agreed on a 70/30 despite his manager telling him to go for a 60/40 split, with the singer getting 40 per cent.

The singer said, “I was like no, let Carter take 70 and let me take 30 since he was the one promoting the song”.

Berri Tiga also revealed that famous Skit maker Sydney Talker and Efe Carter called and offered to pay him off the song with N100,000.

The singer stated that blogs misinterpreted his statement in the Live video as a claim of ownership of the single.

He said he explained he texted the comedian to clear the air, and Carter was calm about it.

He remains appalled at the issues regarding the track but has chosen to move on to his next project, which he stated even Carter Efe knows about.

The song ‘Machala’ has been released on the Apple music streaming platform.

Attempts to get through to Cater Efe have been unproductive as his number is not reachable.

New Release Friday

In other news, the third week of September has seen new music releases from Wizkid, DI’JA, Timaya, and Arya Starr, amongst others

Wizkid released the track ‘Bad To Me’ on 14 September.

The new single from Star Boy is a blend of Amapiano and Afrobeats.

The song wasted no time dominating the number one spot on streaming platforms and stirring a battle between Wizkid’s FC and others.

It also sparked a debate as to who brought Amapiano into Nigeria.

Mavins Stargirl, Arya Starr also released a new single, ‘rush,’ her first solo studio single in 2022

Di’ja and Timaya brought the beat and the heat on ‘Amayanbo’ and ‘Yoruba Demon’ re,spectivelyrespectivturnednedd with a single ‘Jaboti’, while CDQ dropped a single titled ‘Doings.’

Crooners Wadude and Lojay released separate singles. ‘Gemini Babe’ and ‘Leader’.

Idowest features Peruzzi on the track Vibez.