Following the release of her track “Africa Money,” Ghanaian songstress Wendy Shay faced potential legal issues as bloggers urged Barima Sidney to sue her for allegedly sampling his song.
In a recent interview on Cape Coast-based Property FM, Sidney clarified why he chose not to pursue legal action.
“I’ve refrained from commenting on Wendy Shay sampling ‘Africa Money’ because I don’t perceive it as her sampling my song,” Sidney stated.
“Bloggers tried to create conflict between us, but I don’t see any resemblance between her work and mine. I’m not the originator of the terms ‘Africa’ or ‘money.'”
He further explained, “If I’ve used the phrase ‘Africa money’ and she has also incorporated it into her work, it’s perfectly acceptable. Therefore, I didn’t see any cause for concern. It was the bloggers who suggested I was planning to take legal action against Wendy Shay, but I never made such a statement.”
Sidney emphasized that artists often use common words in their songs, and there’s a limited vocabulary to draw from.
“What I express today may have been articulated by someone else before,” he added.
He continued, “I didn’t perceive any wrongdoing and considered it a normal occurrence. My only grievance was when bloggers fabricated stories to pit me against Wendy Shay to elicit a response from her.”
“I will never assert that Wendy Shay sampled my song just because she used the words ‘Africa’ and ‘money.’ I didn’t coin those terms, so if someone combines them to create something new, there’s no issue,” Sidney concluded.