Ghanaian songstress Wendy Shay recently released her track “Africa Money,” which sparked controversy as bloggers speculated that Barima Sidney might sue her for allegedly sampling his song.
However, in a recent interview on Cape Coast-based Property FM, Sidney clarified that he has no intention of taking legal action against Wendy Shay.
Sidney explained, “I’ve refrained from commenting on Wendy Shay sampling ‘Africa Money’ because I don’t see it as her sampling my song. Bloggers tried to create conflict between us, but I don’t see any resemblance between her work and mine. I’m not the originator of the terms ‘Africa’ or ‘money.'”
He further elaborated, “If I’ve used the phrase ‘Africa money’ and she has also used it in her work, it’s completely fine. Artists often use common words in their songs, and there’s a limited vocabulary to choose from. What I express today may have been expressed by someone else before.”
Sidney emphasized that he did not see any wrongdoing on Wendy Shay’s part and considered it a normal occurrence. He expressed his displeasure with bloggers for fabricating stories to create tension between him and Wendy Shay.
Sidney concluded, “I will never claim that Wendy Shay sampled my song just 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.”
