Jah Prayzah Accused Of Copying ZCC Mbungo Song In Hokoyo Album
Entertainment Zimbabwe

Jah Prayzah Accused Of Copying ZCC Mbungo Song In Hokoyo Album

Jah Prayzah

AWARD-WINNING Zimbabwean musician Jah Prayzah has landed into a storm just a day after releasing his tenth album Hokoyo.

The musician is accused of using the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) Mbungo song ‘Mhandu’ in this beat and vocals for ‘Eriya’.

The beat and rhythm for song Eriya are alleged to have been illegally lifted from ZCC Mbungo song Mhandu.

Drum in introduction

The song Eriya starts with a drumbeat that sounds like that of the ZCC Mbungo song Mhandu. The song drum introduction for Eriya for the first 10 seconds, sounds like Mhandu from 27 seconds to about 37 seconds into the song.

Chenjera vocals made to become the beat

The Eriya’s most loved beat is allegedly copied from the vocals ‘Chenjera’ from the 26th second of the song Mhandu. Listeners commented you can literally sing-along “Chengera musikana, chenjera amai, chenjera mukomana, chenjera baba.”

It is not yet known if Jah Prayzah sought the permission of the ZCC band before going ahead to claim the song as his own creation.

Jah Prayzah seems to have admitted to sampling the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) beat towards the end of the song on 4:08 when he sang, ‘Zion’

Music sampling and law

If an artist wants to use a sample from someone’s song, an artist must acquire legal permission from the copyright holder, a potentially lengthy and complex process known as clearance. Sampling without permission breaches the copyright of the original sound recording, of the composition and lyrics, and of the performances, such as a rhythm or guitar riff. The moral rights of the original artist may also be breached if they are not credited or object to the sampling. In some cases, sampling is protected under American fair use laws, which grant “limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the rights holder.

It is up to the ZCC Mbungo stars to proceed with legal action if they feel Jah Prayzah has breached their copyright.

A habit of sampling songs

According to The Herald, Jah Prayzah admitted that he copied the beat of his song “Mwanasikana” on the album “Tsviriyo” from Ghanaian musician Emmanuel Samini’s 2007 hit track titled “Samini”.

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