Ghanaian music producer Kwame Mickey has revealed that the issue concerning Team Eternity Ghana’s use of lyrics from ‘Defe Defe’ in their latest song has been resolved.
In a statement issued by his OFM company, Kwame Mickey announced that “the issue that arose concerning Team Eternity Ghana’s use of a portion of the existing song titled ‘Defe Defe’ in their new song also titled ‘Defe Defe’ has been amicably resolved.”
“The parties have duly entered into a Licence Agreement under which Kwame Mickey grants to Team Eternity Ghana the non-executive right to use in the new song, those words derived from the existing song,” it further states.
Kwame Mickey, the executive producer of Hallelujah Voices’ ‘Defe Defe’, claimed a few weeks ago that Team Eternity Ghana had violated his copyright by incorporating the ‘defe defe’ line into their new hit song.
He wrote: “Who is that Defe Defe singer? If I start right now them go say I am ‘mansonia’. What is the difference between the two songs? Somebody tell her to report and do the needful. That’s all.”
He proceeded to contact YouTube, requesting that they disable the visibility of Team Eternity’s ‘Defe Defe’ on the platform until the copyright issues were resolved.
This sparked debates on social media. Some argued that ‘Defe Defe’ is not an original expression created by Hallelujah Voices, and therefore, they cannot claim ownership of it, while others pointed out similarities in the lyrics.
Hallelujah Voices sing “manhyia Nyame a anka ɔbonsam ayɛ me defe defe,” and Team Eternity sing “manhyia Nyame a anka y’ayɛ me defe defe.”
‘Defe defe’ in Twi, is an adverb used to describe the gravity of an unpleasant situation. Other synonyms for ‘defe defe’ are ‘pasa pasa’, and ‘basa basa’.
Despite differences in rhythmic patterns and melodic phrases between the two lines, Kwame Mickey argues that the lyrical content is similar.
The song ‘Defe Defe’, performed by Hallelujah Voices, was written by Osuani Afrifa and executively produced by Kwame Mickey for Kaakyire Music Productions. It was released in 2004.
