Mliswa wades into musician Celcius’ clash with JMG
Norton- INDEPENDENT Norton legislator Themba Mliswa has waded into a long standing contractual dispute between musician Celcius(real name Tafadzwa Mwandira)and United Kingdom based record label and music distribution company Jacaranda Media Group(JMG).
The international company is owned by popular entertainment promoter Charles ‘Boss Torro’ Guvamatanga and entrepreneur and entertainment blogger Jordan Link Mangwiro.
The Zim Dancehall star claims to have been prejudiced of US$10 000 in unpaid royalties.
Express Mail Zim however understands that the matter had it’s day in court and was concluded in 2020.
Celcius is now making a dramatic somersault alleging that his signature was forged .
The new twist came to light Tuesday, when Mliswa took to his Twitter and raised a red flag over the authenticity of the agreement between Celcius and JMG.
He tweeted :
“A firm calling itself Jacaranda Media Group produced documents whose auntheticity he (Celcius’) denies staying he never signed such.
“The alleged agreement took away Celcius rights over his music, voice, photographs, likeness ,sound and name.”
Mliswa said he was saddened by this development which he said has halted the Norton based musician’s career for two years .
He met Celcius during his routine meetings and interactions in his constituency.
JMG co-founder Boss Torro scoffed at the allegations and poured cold water over same.
He told Express Mail Zim that everything was above board and the matter was settled in court. H
He said his company’s vision was merely to promote young local musicians and give them exposure on a bigger platform.
“Well, that issue was before the courts and justice prevailed.
“Infact its demotivating how some of these youngsters behave when you want to uplift them.
“We bankrolled his album launch on Nash TV and paid a lot of money on his album.
“His claims that we forged his signature are frivolous, we have all the paperwork to prove otherwise and he actually called me saying he had sent the signed papers.
“That conduct is not healthy for the industry,” said Boss Torro who has previously worked with Tocky Vibes, Baba Harare and is currently working with rising Zim dancehall star Mbida.
They recently launched a music distribution platform called Distrohive which is a one-stop shop that gives Zimbabwean and African independent artistes and labels an international major label support and infrastructure, while letting them retain complete over their work through a customised artist or label dashboard.
Meanwhile,Celcius is known for hits like Minamato and he has an inimitable voice that can easily secure him a place in the ‘premier league’ of Zim Dancehall music.
He was born in Bindura 31 years ago and attended Chipindura Primary School before proceeding to Ellis Robbins High upon his relocation to the capital city where he stayed in Dzivarasekwa.
