It is alleged that Master KG - Kgaogelo Moagi - is not the original owner of the track and was not in the room when the song was created. Local artists Charmza The DJ (Presley Ledwaba) and Biblos (Ntimela Chauke), who claim to be the original creators of the monster track, have instituted legal action against Master KG, his record label Open Mic Productions and distributor Africori SA whose majority shareholder is the Warner Music Group.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the duo claimed that they and vocalist Nomcebo Zikode had not been paid a cent since the commercial release of the song in 2019. “The song was the result of a collaboration between music producer Charmza The DJ, who composed the music for the song, and Nomcebo Zikode, who wrote the lyrics for the song and performed it for the master recording. It was also produced in studio by Charmza The DJ,” the statement read.

Master KG invited both Charmza The DJ and Nomcebo to his recording studio to work on a new song, but it was alleged that he was not even in the room when the Jerusalema song was conceptualised, created and the master recording of it produced. The pair claimed that no contracts were entered into and no rights clearances were secured from the copyright owners for Master KG or his record label to release the song and commercialise it under their name only and for their profit only. “Master KG and Open Mic released the recording of the song without obtaining any rights clearances from the artists who originated the song and produced the recording. They also did not secure a licence or clearance from Biblos, who owns the sound recording that was sampled in the track,” the duo alleged.

It is painfully ironic that the message of ‘Ubuntu’ that was sent to the world via this song from Africa was a message itself tainted with allegations of the exploitation of the rights of the very artists who originated the work in the first place. A representative from the duo’s legal firm, Adams Adams, said: “The public was enriched by being able to enjoy the Jerusalema song, and Master KG and Open Mic have been enriched by the revenues earned from the commercialisation of the song. Our clients want their creative contributions made to the song and the recording to be recognised, and for their fair share of earnings generated to be allocated to them.

“To date, earnings have been consumed by Master KG and Open Mic and their distributors Africori and Warner Music, while the true originators and key creative contributors without whom the song would even have existed have cruelly been cut out of the remuneration chain from the get-go, and they are not even recognised as creative contributors to Jerusalema to this day.” City Press reached out to Master KG for a response. His representatives say his lawyers are drafting a statement. This article will be updated once that response is furnished.