Zim: Jah Prayzah shuts down Military Touch Movement
Zimbabwean musician Jah Prayzah has shut down his Military Touch Movement (MTM) label, which originally worked with artists like Andy Muridzo, Ex-Q, Tahle Wedzinza and Nutty O.
Formed in 2017, MTM had also contracted producers DJ Tamuka and Daniel Chiweda. Andy Muridzo and Tahle Wedzinza left the stable a year ago after rumours were circulating about their displeasure with the label's business practices, including unfavourable revenue splits and copyright disputes.
On Friday, Nutty O published a post on social media that said he was leaving MTM, but quickly deleted it. But on Sunday, Jah Prayzah announced the closure of MTM and the termination of all record deals associated with the label.
“I would want to let the whole of Zimbabwe and other global music lovers who have been following our journey that it is now time I let these superstars go out there to conquer the world in music and I have so much confidence in their ability to do so,” he wrote on Facebook. “I have done my part in putting in the little resources I had at that time but I do feel the artists have outgrown the label and though it is painful, I feel it is the right time to release them and also terminate all contracts that were in place."
Nutty O told local media that he hadn’t anticipated Jah Prayzah’s move to end the label's operations, and alluded to ongoing bad blood between the individuals involved in MTM.
"I was surprised because this is not what we talked about going forward with my brothers," he said. "Issues like these should not be settled on impulse. It’s sad, we wanted the movement to succeed. However, it will remain business as usual. My vision and mission is still fixed on giving good music to the world.”
Ex-Q took to Twitter to express his displeasure about MTM's closure and pinned the blame on some of the artists signed to the label. "It’s sad brother," he said in a reply to Jah Prayzah,” because I know how much you really wanted this movement to work out, you tried and haters have won,” he said.
Jah Prayzah said he had been subjected to so much criticism that "I have become really sceptical about recruiting new artists under MTM as this in many occurrences has tainted my brand.
"The main objective, however, was not to get praise from helping artists achieve their dreams. I have decided, I will proceed with finding other artists from the grassroots and will put in my effort to ensure they are talked about and their music grows. For them it will also come a time when they will also have to go out and spread their own wings and not under any umbrella,” he said.
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