December 14, (THEWILL) – Akinbiyi Abiola Ahmed, aka Bella Shmurda, has stated that he paid N20 million to exit his former record label.
He made this known in an interview, while recounting the early days of his sojourn in the music industry.
The singer recalled how he had to opt out of an unfavourable deal.
Bella Shmurda said he paid up to N20 million to quit a three-year contract, after spending just a year with the music label.
“I was very self-conscious of people just using me, making me sign papers that won’t favour me.
“Today, I’m an independent artiste. I had this label, but they weren’t doing well to my taste. I would want to shoot a video but they’d bring N500,000 and make me hustle N500,000. It’s not a label. It was a partnership.
“When sharing revenue, they still took the larger part of 70 percent, while I got 30. At one point, I felt I couldn’t do that anymore. It can’t work. When it comes to promotion, I was the one hustling the money.
“I signed for three years and did just a year. I got a lawyer and cleared myself. I paid about N20 million”, he stated.
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