Sidney Kofi Ofori popularly known in the music scene as Barima Sidney has revealed that he won’t compensate former President John Mahama with a campaign song.
Barima Sidney who recently apologized to John Mahama for the way people used his ‘Papa No’ song to tarnish his image, stated he won’t do another song to beg him.
“If I should do another song that the former President Mahama should find solace in, that one fine but I don’t think officially I’ll do a song to reverse what I did earlier.
“I don’t see why I would go back to do another song to compensate him; as for that one no but maybe if I do a song and he finds solace in it.”
Barima Sidney
He posited that his initial song wasn’t referring to John Mahama though it was used against him.
“I’ve already said my ‘Papa No’ song wasn’t referring to John Mahama it was the video that people did and used my song in it that’s what I’m apologizing for”.
Barima Sidney
The hiplife musician further announced his intention to join actress Yvonne Nelson’s upcoming ‘Dumsor’ demonstration, citing the persistent power outages (Dumsor) plaguing the nation.
He reminisced about his participation in the 2015 edition of the ‘Dumsor Must Stop’ demonstration, emphasizing that the power crisis affected everyone at that time.
“I’ve received Yvonne Nelson’s public invitation to join the ‘Dumsor’ vigil, and I assured her that I will be at the forefront of this movement.”
Barima Sidney
Sidney passionately expressed his commitment to the cause, highlighting the ongoing challenges of ‘Dumsor’ in his community.
He stressed that the power outages continue to disrupt daily life, compelling him to take a stand once again.
Acknowledging the significance of collective action in addressing the issue, Sidney affirmed his readiness to mobilize and advocate for an end to ‘Dumsor’, reaffirming his unwavering support for the cause.
Sidney Addresses Why He Did Not Sue Wendy
Following the release of her track, “Africa Money”, Ghanaian songstress, Wendy Shay found herself at the center of a potential legal dispute as many bloggers began urging Barima Sidney to take legal action against her for sampling his song.
However, Sidney addressed why he chose not to pursue legal action against Wendy Shay for the alleged sampling of his song “Africa Money”.
“I’ve refrained from commenting on the issue of Wendy Shay sampling ‘Africa Money’ because I don’t perceive it as her sampling my song. Certain bloggers attempted to sow discord between us, but I don’t see any resemblance between her work and mine. After all, I’m not the originator of the terms ‘Africa’ or ‘money’.
“If I’ve used the phrase ‘Africa money’ and she has also incorporated it into her work, it’s perfectly acceptable. Therefore, I didn’t see any cause for concern. However, it was the bloggers who insinuated that I was planning to take legal action against Wendy Shay. I haven’t made any such statement.”
Barima Sidney
Sidney emphasized that the words artists usually employ in their songs are not of their creation and there’s a finite pool of vocabulary to draw from, adding that whatever he expresses today may have been articulated by someone else before.
“I didn’t perceive any wrongdoing, and I considered it a normal occurrence. My only grievance arose when bloggers began fabricating stories to pit me against Wendy Shay to elicit a response from her, for reasons unknown to me.
“I will never assert that Wendy Shay sampled my song merely because she used the words ‘Africa’ and ‘money.’ I didn’t coin those terms, so if someone combines them to create something new, there’s no issue.”
Barima Sidney
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