Upcoming music producer, DJ Bushida Coffee, has apologised to Xitsonga disco legend Papa Penny for remaking his 1996 hit Hayi Ka Mina Hee without his permission.
An upset Papa Penny took to social media early this week to condemn the fairly unknown DJ for remixing his work without consulting him.
Papa Penny said he had come across the snippet of the remix on social media a few days ago and this set him off to post a video pleading with the DJ to take the song down, which came from his famous 1996 album Yogo.
Speaking to Sowetan yesterday, the reality show star said he felt undermined by Bushida Coffee, which he said he didn’t know until recently when the remix started trending on TikTok.
“The song came with a message that a full song of the remix was coming.
“I was angry because this [song] is my work. I was like… a full song coming from where? I just released my own remix of the same song over a month ago.
“I then listened to his song and I was like ‘who is this DJ who is taking my work without my consent?’ I did that video because I wanted him to contact me so that we can speak,” said Papa Penny.
He further said: “I don’t have an issue with him remixing my music; this is what we want as legendary artists but he must do that the right way by asking for permission.
“I want to appeal to all young deejays, not him only, to stop remixing our music without seeking permission because that is stealing. Luckily, he contacted me and apologised for what he did. But I still want him to release a video and apologise to the public.”
DJ Bushida told Sowetan there was a misunderstanding about the song.
“The song is not exactly that of Papa Penny but the melody is similar to that of his song.
“I was toying around with sounds in the studio and I found this melody that was familiar to my ear and I started working on it.
“It was not even complete when I released it on TikTok. But I understand why he felt the way he did. I have removed the song on TikTok and I will share a full version with him so that if he wants to release, it he can do that.” – Sowetan