Andy Muridzo’s decision to join Military Touch Movement (MTM), the music stable owned by Jah Prayzah, may have done him more harm than good...
Andy Muridzo’s decision to join Military Touch Movement (MTM), the music stable owned by Jah Prayzah, may have done him more harm than good.
Producer Tapiwa “Maselo” Jera is withholding nine tracks that Muridzo wanted to constitute the bulk of an album due for release on March 22.
It has also been claimed that Muridzo’s affair with raunchy dancer, Beverly Sibanda, did not end last year but was terminated the moment the singer signed for Jah Prayzah.
Sources close to both parties say for some reason, Bev was irked by Muridzo’s move and when she confronted her lover about it, he was rude and told her never to contact him again.
The situation with Maselo and Bev is said to be just the tip of the iceberg, as Muridzo’s heavyweight financial backers and diehard fans, who oiled the singer’s rise, are reportedly abandoning him in the wake of his decision to “sleep with the enemy”.
As the story of Muridzo joining MTM gets weirder every day, with a number of conspiracy theories being thrown around, The Sunday Mail Leisure spoke to some of the parties involved.
Maselo — who produced Muridzo’s second album that carried runaway hits “Dherira” and “Chidhafudhunda” — confirmed he was withholding the songs he did with Muridzo until they resolved their issues.
“We were like partners (and) he just left. I have to know what exactly is going on,” disclosed Maselo.
The producer revealed the two had a heated telephone exchange last Tuesday over the music, which resulted in Muridzo telling Maselo to delete the files because he would start the album afresh.
Said Maselo: “At first he said to me let us go and finish the music at JP Studios. I told him that would not be possible since I have my own brand to grow. After his deal with MTM, stories started coming out and he approached me again, demanding the music.
“I then told him the terms of the new deal now that he was a signed artiste elsewhere seeking to work with another producer. He dismissed the terms, dropped the phone call and said to me ‘delete the music, we will start afresh’,” said Maselo.
Maselo said the new terms involved specific payments for each track they recorded together, but he would not divulge exactly how much he demanded from the artiste.
He said Muridzo came back to the negotiating table and by the time of going to print the two were still deadlocked with Maselo saying, “We still have not agreed on the way forward.”
The 25-year-old producer also gave a bit of background.
“When I started working with Andy, my wife also worked for him as a backing vocalist. We did the previous album based on friendship bordering on brotherhood. There were no contracts, I considered his music mine and he considered my studio his,” narrated Maselo.
“He is the only artiste who did not pay the stipulated amounts for recording a song or an album. He could do whatever he wanted in the studio and I gave him most of my time. So now that his brand and music are owned elsewhere, and it will not be benefiting me directly, there is no way we can continue to do each other favours.
“I had hoped that the more hits we produced, the bigger both our brands would grow, but I was obviously mistaken.”
Maselo spoke of “tell-tale signs” that Muridzo would dump him, he chose to ignore them as he thought success would bring them closer.
“When we finished ‘Ngarizhambe’ I could tell all was not well. He could not acknowledge me as his producer, even at the launch. Surrounded by all those people I just thought he would say ‘this is the man I worked with, my producer’. But no.
“Afterwards I played his lead guitar for a while in the band but after some ill-treatment from him, I quit. The way we parted ways was unhealthy but he still came back, apologised and said let’s do another album. We worked on this unreleased album last year from August to November — it is very good.”
Maselo’s studio, Maselo Pro, has artistes such as Progress Chipfumo, Baba Harare, Dino Mudondo, Jairos Chabvonga, Wanai and Bontoman.
Maselo continued: “When we started working together we would hire other producers’ studios. I would then take the files home and work on my laptop; that is how we produced all those hit songs.
“But now we had proper studio equipment, a comfortable place that was ours and all the time we needed to work on the music. I know for a fact that among the songs we did there are three or four hits. This was it, but if he is willing to let them gather dust in my studio, then so be it.”
Muridzo’s manager Gift Petro said there was a standoff with the producer, and accused Maselo of shifting goal posts when they joined Jah Prayzah’s label. He, however, expressed confidence that everything would be sorted out and when fans saw what the vision was, things would calm down.
Petro dismissed the notion that the Military Touch deal was doing them more harm than good, but admitted that a significant amount of control was now under MTM as they “own the vision”.
MTM wields so much power that Muridzo’s manager does not even know when his artiste’s album will be launched.
Said Petro: “The dates are subject to change. If MTM has a function that clashes with ours we might have to move the dates. Remember, MTM is now spearheading the release of this project, so their full force has to be felt.
“Take for example a woman who is single, works and lives a comfortable life. When that woman gets married you do not expect the standards to go down but actually go up. That is what is happening with Andy Muridzo, Jeetaz Band and MTM: our lives, our act and lifestyle can only get better now.”
Although he refused to show this publication a copy of the contract Muridzo signed with MTM, Petro gave more insight into the deal.
“We will record our music there. The stable will also distribute and market our music, and organise the majority of our high profile gigs, if not all. From all these things, the stable will get a certain percentage from the earnings,” said Petro. He said MTM would organise gigs for any of their artistes, even without Jah Prayzah on the line-up, and still get a share of the gate takings. On the signing on fee, Petro said: “That is still being discussed.”
Responding to Bev’s claims that Muridzo impregnated her, Petro said the dancer needed help.
“She and others who do not understand why we have done this, thus they are doing everything they can to kill this relationship. (Prophet Walter) Magaya chaiye akamutadza Bev uya, munhu anotoda rubatsiro (even Prophet Magaya failed to deal with her, she needs help). All this is because people are fighting this deal,” he said.
Petro said even if Bev was pregnant, the way she was handling the matter was wrong. Bev’s manager Hapers Mapimhidze accused Jah Prayzah’s team of creating unnecessary troubles for Muridzo.
“Andy’s problems started when he joined MTM, but only because he was forced to destroy relationships, even professional ones, by his new handlers. As for their tiff (Bev and Andy), it was actually someone who claimed to be Andy’s lawyer who told Bev never to contact his client again when Bev tried to communicate with Andy as they normally do,” said Mapimhidze.
He added: “Right now as we speak our joint shows have all been cancelled. We were supposed to be having a show with Andy in Mutare on the 18th of this month but I have just been informed by the promoter that Andy’s managers have pulled the plug.
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| You Will Be Shocked - Andy Muridzo’s Nightmare Continues |
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