Rapper Barton Namwaya, alias Kristoff, has resorted to take legal action to ward off upcoming music group Effect Gang who claim he stole their song.
Taking to Twitter, members of Effect Gang called out Kristoff for stealing their song. The group claimed Kristoff sampled beats for his song ‘Bash’ featuring Yvonne Darcq and Kush Tracey from their song with the same title.
“I hear there is a certain artiste who has stolen our song. Man, and the way we have suffered to get to where we are. The song is called ‘Bash’ and it is a sample of our track also titled ‘Bash’. Even the chorus is similar to our single,” Effect Gang tweeted.
Kristoff issued a press statement to addressed the claims made by Effect Gang. He vowed to sue the upcoming music group unless they withdraw their allegations.
“Kristoff’s management has not taken the allegations politely as such indictment is jeopardising to their clients’ brand, and want the ‘gang’ to withdraw their statement or legal pursuit will be taken up. There are better, mature and professional ways to get attention and collaborations for upcoming artistes looking to merge with growing and/or established artistes. ‘Bash’ was scripted and recorded four months ago, May 2019, to be precise. The video was shot in August 2019 and a trailer announcing the release was published on September 12, 2019. It is a copyrighted track under Kecobo,” the statement read in part.
We have resulted to taking matters legally and have served the management of 'Effect Gang' with a demand letter over allegations that we stole their song. Respect shall be upheld in the music industry. We don't make brands overnight and collabos shouldn't be imposed.#kieleweke pic.twitter.com/GKCZkNEfv7
— #KRISTOFF #MWB (@KRISTOFF_kenya) September 16, 2019