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Johannesburg – After signing a handful of some of South Africa’s most popular artists in July, including Nasty C, Emtee and Khanyi Mbau, Mabala Noise got a lot of people talking.
On Friday the leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, made a bold statement at a press conference at the IEC results centre, claiming that the record label gave each signed artist "not less than R5 million" (more on that here).
Rapper Riky Rick was quick to jump to the defence of Mabala Noise, tweeting that Malema’s accusations were false. "There is no R5million I ever received from anyone."
On Monday Reggie Nkambule Nkabinde, Treasurer General of the ANC Youth League and co-owner of Mabala Noise, called a press conference in an attempt to set the record straight.
"About Mabala Noise paying artists R5m, it’s not correct. And I must indicate that it’s totally a lie."
Nkabinde knocked down accusations that artists signed to the label, like Riky Rick, would "sell their souls" for R5m, saying that the rapper was able to live a "comfortable" life on his own.
"It’s public knowledge that he [Riky Rick] charges R65 000 per show. And there’s never been a weekend where Riky Rick is not working."
About Julius Malema’s challenge for the record label to sue him, Reggie says they are still in talks with lawyers.
"We are still consulting our legal team about that. But another thing you will understand, Julius, he grew up in jail, he likes being in jail. So for me it won’t make any difference to take Julius to court. It’s like a waste of time," he stated.
Adding that the Mabala Noise legal team was advising them on how to best approach the situation in order to get Julius to retract his statements.
When questioned about "beef" between himself and Julius, Reggie said, "I don't think that there's beef that I know of from Julius. Except that we have renamed him ‘Jealous Malema’".
