Rayvanny’s Sh100m puzzle to exit Diamond's Wasafi Records

In the past two years, Rayvanny has on several occasions been forced to clarify rumours that he was mulling exiting the Diamond Platnumz-owned record label Wasafi.

Whenever the rumours came up, Rayvanny was quick to shoot them down, insisting that he would forever be a member of Wasafi.

The reports began immediately after Rayvanny launched his own record label, Next Level, and even edited his Instagram bio at some point, removing the words “signed under WCB Wasafi”, a tag that features on the bios of all Wasafi signees' social media accounts.

Once again, for the umpteenth time, Rayvanny has been forced to deny the same old claims that he wants out as his relationship with Diamond continues to fall apart.

Last month, fresh reports emerged that Rayvanny was asked to part with Tsh2 billion (Sh98 million) if he was in such a rush to disengage from the label that created his musical stature.

Famous Clouds FM presenter Mwemba Burton, popularly known by his sobriquet Mwijaku, in a recent interview claimed that Rayvanny was asked to pay the sum but was unable to.

“From the information I got, recently Rayvanny got a partner from Zambia who wanted to invest in his Next Level record label. But the investor insisted that he has to be independent to avoid collision and that means ditching Wasafi. When he presented the case to Wasafi management, the managers there presented him with an invoice of Tsh2 billion,” Mwijaku stated.

According to Mwijaku, that amount of money would be enough compensation for his contract with WCB, which still has several years to run.

“He was told that should he pay the amount, they will allow him to leave and even give him all the rights to his music from all digital platforms that he has produced under Wasafi,” Mwijaku added.

“The amount was too hefty for Rayvanny and so he decided to remain and serve his contract to the conclusion. That’s when the management came out and said the artiste who was leaving WCB was Hanstone and not Rayvanny.”

A week later Rayvanny landed his first endorsement deal with betting company PMBet as its ambassador and during a press briefing seized the moment to address the reports concerning his future at WCB.

He acknowledged that he had at some point been at loggerheads with the WCB management.

“So much has been said about me wanting to leave Wasafi. I have worked with Wasafi to this point and under them, I was able to establish my own record label. Even Diamond was under Papa Misifa management before he established his label,” Rayvanny, who signed for Wasafi in 2015, stated.

“WCB has been nothing but supportive to me and forever they will remain part of me because they made me who I am. It’s normal when you are under a label for there to be disagreements on various issues. There will come a time when Rayvanny will leave but for now, I am Wasafi for life.”

No-show

On average, Wasafi signs artistes for 10 years. But even with his sentiments, Rayvanny continues to cast doubt on his commitment to Wasafi and has skipped a number of notable events organised by the label.

Rayvanny did not attend last month’s Zuchu’s Mahaba Ndi Ndi Ndi event, with the management stating that he was out of the country for a show.

He also missed Diamond’s “FOA EP” launch two weeks ago and the crooner, when asked, said Rayvanny was in Paris.

“Rayvanny is still part of Wasafi and he is in Paris at the moment working on some of his projects. There is no way I would have denied him an opportunity to land a major gig in Paris by asking him to be part of my mini album. That would be so selfish of me,” Diamond explained.

Ditching WCB Wasafi elicits debate whenever an artiste wants out.

When Harmonize forced his way out in 2018, to form his Konde Gang Record label, he said he had to pay WCB Tsh500 million (Sh24 million) to terminate his 10-year contract under which he had only served four years.

He claimed the label that made him was exploiting him and he had opted to go solo.

“I was signed into a 10-year contract at WCB. Any money I earned within the contract Diamond would take 60 percent, leaving me with 40 percent. From this 40 percent, I still had to top up with my own money to push my music,” Harmonize explained.

After his exit months later, Rich Mavoko followed suit but the label could not let him walk away freely.

Mavoko was forced to launch a case with the Tanzania music and arts regulatory body Basata, citing his contract as exploitative.

Upon review of the contract, Basata cancelled the recording deal, rendering Mavoko a free artiste.