Ghanaian Highlife and Afrobeats musician, Mr. Drew has cleared the air on his earlier comments to leave all his share of royalties with his former label, Highly Spiritual Music as a form of gratitude to its owner, Kaywa.
The renowned Afro-pop singer made a surprising announcement that left fans and industry insiders alike buzzing with admiration and respect.
While others believe his action exemplifies a different kind of narrative—one rooted in appreciation and acknowledgment, others have however condemned him for the decision calling it “irresponsible”.
He revealed his decision to leave his share of royalties from his past hits to Kaywa’s label as an act of gratitude for their pivotal role in his career journey.
Mr. Drew is currently an independent artiste who has released new songs including ‘Case Remix’ and ‘Tomorrow’.
Further commenting on the matter Mr. Drew stated:
“Well, what I said was what I said, but at the same time I believe that as far as I’m doing the music I can always make more… it was me saying thank you to Kaywa for everything, and then I’d leave it at that”.
Mr. Drew
He also emphasized that he doesn’t view this decision as a limitation but rather proof of the confidence he has in his craft.
However, the ‘Tomorrow” hitmaker stated:
“Then we’ll make more. At the end of the day, I am the source, you get it, I am the one writing the music. I don’t think there should be a point where I would be scared then probably I don’t really believe in what I am doing, meanwhile, we are working.
“It’ll be like they were my only source. The work is going to continue, but I’m going to leave the old ones with them and we already have a big song right now so we continue doing our work and we keep doing Mr. Drew, keep giving the people bangers. I understand what I’m doing and like I said, it’s gratitude”.
Mr. Drew
The music industry often witnesses artists parting ways with their labels in pursuit of greater creative control or financial benefits.
However, Mr. Drew’s decision to leave his share of royalties with Kaywa’s has been met with various reactions from fans.
Mr. Drew speaks about his experiences with his former boss
Ghanaian musician, Mr. Drew spoke about his experiences with his former record label, Highly Spiritual, and former boss, Kaywa, and his motivation for leaving the record label.
The artist proclaimed that he had no feud with Kaywa.
He explained the hardship faced during his time with Highly Spiritual and how he had to manage even though things at the record label were not going smoothly to expectation.
He recalled:
“I quite remember Papa Kaywa coming in to say that at a point in time, he himself was trying to sell his car, so that should give you a fair idea of how bad things were. That was before the hit songs came in and after that it got better but it still wasn’t okay. It was manageable. And we managed”.
Mr. Drew
He claimed that he leaving the record label was a mutual thing and everybody understood the grounds he took. Also, he said that he stayed till his contract of 5 years ended.
The Afro-pop star said he would not dive into the issue so much because people may not understand what he is doing, adding that there are risks.
He said:
“I have always taken risks and then it worked. I’ve taken risks from since. Even me being on the label was a risk. Even me going for Hitmaker was me taking a risk because I was in school by then, and I was about writing exams by then but I had to still go. So I have taken risks all this while, and once you take the risk, you know that something can come out of it”.
Mr. Drew
Mr. Drew opined that he is not in a rush to join any record label yet because he wants to find himself and also keep his name embedded in people’s heads even though record labels have approached him to work with him.
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