He can keep is Twitter account-Kaboy Kamakili
Kaboy Kamakili and his ex-manager Abed Jona air their dirty laundry as each tells their side of the story.
The much-adorned kwaito star and manager this morning had been the talk of the day as the two seem to have stopped working with one another.
The Namibian nation woke up to unusual activities on social mediums of upcoming artist Kaboy Kamakili and his then manager Abed Jona. A page, on Twitter that had been running under the brand of the Ekwatho singer had been changed to that of Abed Jona’s company which is known as Onfleek Media. Jona released a media statement through Onfleek Music clarifying that Kaboy Kamakili knew that his twitter account would be deactivated if he did not sign a contract with his company.
Jona said that Kaboy declined to work with his company after a meeting on 28 May 2019. They then both decided to do a trial run for Kaboy Kamakili before he would agree to another offer from Onfleek Music. Under Onfleek Media and without prior engagements to work together, Kaboy Kamikili performed at Hashtag Grill n Chill in Ongwediva on 29 May 2019. According to Jona, Kaboy was not paid for his performance. ‘‘Hashtag Grill n Chill to care of what he was eating and drinking that night. After the night, the owner of the place gave Kaboy money which went straight to his pocket. The company did not get anything from that night, it took it as the owner appreciating Kaboy’s art and work,’’ he said.
Kaboy went on to perform at Kasi Vibe Festival but was not paid for the performance. His transport from the north to come and perform in Windhoek at Kasi Vibe Festival was paid by Zulu Ama Daz Floor. ‘‘Tate Gweri paid for his transport to come to Windhoek of N$250, on top of which N$500 was given to him by an individual,’’ said Jona.
Jona shared that after his Kasi Vibe Festival performance Kaboy Kamikili got a lot calls and requests from different media houses for interviews. ‘‘Interviews by Namibian Sun, New Era, Kundana, One Africa, Base FM and NUST FM were done within the week after the festival. Up until this point, no formal agreement or contractual agreement was made by both parties,’’ he said.
On 7 June 2019 Kaboy Kamakili performed at Beacon Lounge in Windhoek for his 21st birthday. Beacon Lounge sponsored the venue to Onfleek Music for free and all the proceeds from the gate were to be given to Kaboy Kamakili to keep. ‘‘The management (Onfleek) and the establishment came to an agreement that they will sort out the performance stage and venue costs while Onfleek Music Group should sort out the sound expense. The establishment gave 100% of the gate entrance fee, which was a total of N$2230. The sound cost was N$2000 and this amount was settled by the management that night of which the money was taken from the gate entrance fee,’’ he explained.
Kaboy Kamakili was paid N$100 after all expenses for sound were paid for. Jona also highlighted that Kaboy Kamakili was paid a deposit of N$2000 was paid to Kaboy for a performance quote of N$4000 by Kuisebmund Secondary School at Walvis Bay, the performance will happen on 13th July 2019. From the deposit money paid by the school Kaboy was given N$1000 by Onfleek Music Group and they kept the other N$1000 and it was used for logistics.
He also stated that with regards to the twitter account Onfleek Investment decided to block Kaboy Kamakili from using his account because it was created by them and that it was affiliated with their company. He also pointed out a music video that was shot for Kaboy Kamikili will still be released despite the ongoing feud.
Kaboy Kamakili hit back at Jona and said his former manager took advantage of him and extorted money from his performances. ‘‘Abed approached me a few day’s after my videos went viral on wamboesbelike saying he wants to be my manager and that he will help promote and get gigs for me, at that time I was helpless and in desperate need for help because people wanted to know who Kaboy Kamakili is,’’ he said.
Kaboy clarified that he did not have a smartphone and that Jona created a Twitter account on his behalf. ‘‘He had access to all my social media because I didn’t have a phone he created my Twitter account for me but not as a company like he claimed in his tweet in the first place, that account was never created as Onfleek it started off from scratch with my name,picture,number and all my personal information,’’ said Kaboy Kamakili.
Kaboy says his Twitter account had contact details and information that was removed by Jona. According to Kaboy, Jona then added his contact details to the Twitter account and all calls regarding gigs and interviews were being diverted to Jona. Before Jona changed the Twitter account details, Abed said he dealt with people interested in his performances and would send quotes to people who wanted him to perform at their events. This however changed when Jona changed the details to the Twitter account.
‘‘I started getting suspicious about him because I am new to the music industry and for me it wasn’t about the gigs or the calls and interviews. I just wanted to perform and make music because I just I really love making music with all my heart without realising I got various help from different people and Abed never mentioned about them,’’ he said.
The artist said Jona almost everything that he did and that he didn’t have control over a lot of things except his recording process. Kamakili shared that he did not have a place to sleep at when he came to Windhoek to performances and relied on his friends to help him out with accommodation. ‘‘I got so many gigs but never got the funds, I’ve been observant towards him and at first I didn’t want to tell him but it kept getting worse so I realised that I don’t want to work with you anymore,’’ he said.
Kaboy said after he realised he cannot work with Jona, he had no access to his Twitter account. He said he respects Jona and does not want to talk badly about him but was glad he did not sign with his former manager. ‘‘I am so glad and I thak God that I didn’t sign any contract with him,’’ he shared.
