Nairobi News

It seems there is a storm brewing between rapper Nonini and his long-term friend and former producer Clemmo.

During an interview with SPM Buzz, Clemmo vented about not getting any financial compensation following Nonini’s win on a copyright infringement case over the use of one of his hit songs, ‘We Kamu’.

Also read: Tiktok influencer to pay Nonini Sh1million in copyright infringment case

According to Clemmo having been the person who produced the song he should also get some monetary compensation.

But it seems Clemmo and Nonini never signed any papers regarding the music they did together putting the former in a tight position to demand for any Intellectual Property IP, rights.

“Someone got paid or rather a judgement got passed and someone was favoured and got paid some money for work that I did. So my question is this, did you see anywhere that Clemmo was mentioned? So that track is my track, it is my idea, and I did not get paid.

Someone comes and conveniently tells you that there is not contract between the two of us, but does that mean that the work is his. But I can’t go for that cash I am above that, but the thing is I am trying to think about these other producers, how much are they suffering,” Clemmo said.

Also read: Rapper Jua Cali explains why he drifted apart with Nonini

Nonini was however not very happy about Clemmo’s comments, going as far as suggesting to Clemmo to go to court if he was not satisfied with the court ruling.

“Ignorance sometimes huwa mbaya. Ngojeni kwanza nimalizane na influencer and the company then nikuje ni deal nah ii ufala yenyu. (let me deal with the influencer and the company then I will deal with this stupidity).

You do know every citizen has the right to appeal any court decision as per our constitution. Also if you feel your rights were infringed you are at all liberty to open a suit against the two, influencer and company, but court systems are about facts not emotional outbursts on social media, you have got to prove your case,” Nonini said.

“I have invested my time and resources in the suit which you can do the same, hii mambo haitaki uzembe, are we clear? Also I can be petty about so many things. If you want us to go down that road. In the meantime kuna mention about this case tomorrow let me focus,” he said.

Also read: Count me out: Nonini quits Ezekiel Mutua’s MCSK

On March 23, 2023, the Milimani Commercial Magistrate Court ruled in favour of Nonini, ordering social media influencer Mutinda to pay the artiste Sh1 million in general damages as well as take down a video at the heart of the suit from all social media platforms.

Nonini’s lawsuit was filed after Mutinda featured his hit song We Kamu in a video advert that promoted the latest television sets of the brand Syinix. The artiste said his hit song was used without his consent or authorisation, leading to him seek redress in court last year.

Nonini expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of the lawsuit, and took to his social media to celebrate the ruling.

Nonini’s official statement read, “Today, March 23, 2023, will go down in history (Year of the Jordan) and is a win for the Kenyan music industry #Mgenge2ru Vs the people who used my song We Kamu to push a product. #CopyrightShallBeRespected.”

Nonini further noted that he had been involved in several copyright infringement cases running for years.

Also read: Nonini bemoans explicit content by hip hop artistes