Court Orders Zeez To Refund N22.3M To Record Label

Nigerian singer and producer, Zeez (formerly DJ Zeez) has been asked by a High Court in Lagos to refund over N22 Million to his record label, HF Music, the same label that houses fast-rising Pop artiste, BigLittle.

The singer was sued in dragged to court in September 2015 by HF Music following his inability to meet his obligations as outlined in his contract, with the main complaint stating that the singer refused to record music, as contained in the record deal. The presiding judge, Honourable Justice B.A. Oke-Lawal (Mrs) in the case brought before the High Court of Lagos State, ordered that Zeez, real name – Kingsley Elikpo, should refund the sum of N22,378,605.70 (Twenty-Two Million, Three Hundred and Seventy-Eight Thousand, Six Hundred and Five Naira and Seventy Kobo) being the total amount spent by HF Music through various advances made to and on his behalf, from the commencement date of his contract with the label until the point when it was breached by him. “This judgment is expected to have serious implication on the Nigerian music industry, as record label owners and investors can now feel safe investing in artistes, knowing that their investment is protected by the law. On the other hand, artistes are now expected to sit-up and take their contractual obligations more serious, knowing that breaching their contract might turn out to be a career ending move," a close source disclosed. DJ Zeez is a multi-talented DJ writer producer and artiste. He started DJing in 2001 before joining a 4 man group called Xzist. In 2003, he went solo, ‘Orin Tan Ba Ti Fe’. He is best known for his hit songs ‘Fokasibe’ and ‘Bobbie FC’. Both HF Music and Zeez are yet to make any official statement on the issue “Drake celebrates his first No. 1 as a lead artist on the Billboard Hot 100(dated May 21), as “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla, climbs 2-1. The track is from his new album, Views, which, as previously reported, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with his best sales week and a record-setting weekly streaming total.” Billboard wrote.