I love you, I didn’t steal your song, Dakolo tells Majek Fashek

Legendary singer, Majek Fashek has accused his younger colleague, Timi Dakolo of remaking his classic song – Send Down The Rain – without due permission.

Majek, who’s battled with drug abuse for decades, released the evergreen song in 1991 and Dakolo released a hugely successful remake in 2013.

The pair even performed the song together onstage at the 2015 edition of the Headies Award – which held at the Eko Hotel and Suites on January 1, 2016.

Fast forward to mid-2016, the legend has alleged, in an interview with The Punch, that the singer fondly called ‘The Voice’ by his fans, stole his song.

“He broke the rules of copyright. He is a thief because in music business, he must take permission before he works on someone’s song. That is why we have COSON. I did not give anyone the right to do anything with my song.”

“I have a management team I work with headed by Omenka Uzoma. Dakolo never bothered to look for me before stealing my song. He has infringed on the laws of copyright and he is not an original artiste. It is only people like Tuface, Wizkid, Olamide that are original.”

“I felt bad when I learnt that he worked on my song without my consent. He did not even give me credit. He is a very bad artiste and he took advantage of the circumstance that I was facing during that time.”

“The song is not a normal song; it is a spiritual hit song. Timi Dakolo does not know how I suffered to get that song. I fasted for seven days before I got that song. I partook in three days ‘white’ fasting before the song came to me. Timi Dakolo did not go through that. I did not fight him because I do not have time. Let God judge us.

Reacting swiftly to the allegations of intellectual property theft, Dakolo through his Instagram page on Saturday, said he paid Fashek’s “manager to remake the song” and claims to have an “invoice” to prove payment.

“My people, it saddens me to see such. I always try to do things rightly and lawfully,” Dakolo, who is also a judge on The Voice Nigeria, said in an Instagram post.”

“I paid his manager to remake the song, I got my invoice, I even mentioned to him during our rehearsals at the Headies. So, honestly I don’t understand this write-up.”

“Oga Majek Fashek. I respect and love you. Your voice gives life to lyrics. You are one of the best musicians I know. God bless you.”