It seems there is trouble in amapiano paradise as Thato Ledwaba, more popularly known as Kelvin Momo is suing fellow amapiano master Kabza de Small, claiming Kabza failed to promote his music commercially, per their agreement.
PianoHub, Kabza de Small’s record label, took Kelvin in as one of their artists with a collaborative deal in 2020. According to the contract, Piano Hub was tasked with promoting Kelvin’s music commercially and paying Kelvin his royalties every six months, which Kelvin strongly believes Kabza has failed to do and has opted to take the legal route demanding a sum of R1 million
The court documents revealed that the situation has affected Kelvin Momo’s reputation to the extent that fellow artists are reluctant to work with him.”The impression the record label has placed Ledwaba in has negatively impacted his reputation in the industry. He suffers reputational harm in that other artists in the industry do not trust that they would receive payment for any work done on projects by him,” states court papers, and further adds that Piano Hub deliberately misrepresented his status in the record label against his will, after a failure to publicly acknowledge his departure from the label.
Amapiano fans are caught in the middle as they enjoy both artists’ music and are unsure who to side with. One user took to X (formerly Twitter) to suggest that the two artists bury their feud with a joint EP.
Not our faves. They can settle this by giving us an EP🥺 pic.twitter.com/eprTXelURy
— Nonhlanhla (@Nonhlanhla_12) July 7, 2024
Haibo I thought this guys would release an album together then this🤦🏾♂️
— Evidence Bongwe (@Evidence_Shongw) July 7, 2024
Another user joked about Maphorisa being behind all of the drama, as the producer has infamously been at the centre of a number of feuds between other amapiano artists.
I know Lord Phori is involved somewhere pic.twitter.com/6LZubv36q3
— ChrisExcel (@ChrisExcel102) July 7, 2024
Both Kelvin and Kabza have not provided their own statements regarding the matter at the time.
Also see: Kabza De Small and Kelvin Momo to release joint EP