Reality TV star and gospel artist Bahati announced the closure of his famous Eastlands Most Beloved (EMB) record label in an emotional video published on Saturday, April 18.
Bahati stated that he reached the decision to terminate all contracts and shut down the label as alleged back-stabbing from his signees coupled with media scrutiny into EMB had become too much for him. The label, launched in 2015, has played a key role in the careers of several gospel artists including Peter Blessing, Weezdom, Mr Seed and Dennoh but has also been marred by numerous scandals.
At the same time, Producer Paulo, a long time producer at EMB, claimed that he was owed at least Ksh2 million by EMB as he wondered why Bahati was shutting down the label.
Kenyans.co.ke reached out to Bahati seeking to get his response to the debt allegations but the artist declined to comment on the matter.
"My brother, you know I don't do interviews. You won't make me start today. I can't speak about that," Bahati asserted.
Paulo had claimed that he was owed the money for various hits he produced during his time at the label, further alluding to a legal tussle between Bahati and one of his signees, Peter Blessing, that hit the headlines in January.
"We all know Bahati for his flamboyant behaviour of seeking attention through sympathy from Kenyan fans. There are a lot of things that happened behind the scenes at the label which I will not talk about for now.
"My main focus is the music production department at the stable. I produced several songs at EMB and never got a coin from it. I put my sweat, talent and ideas in producing most of the songs at EMB without any reward, the most I received was transport back home which I sometimes dug deep into my own pocket," Paulo wrote.
He claimed that his attempts to reach Bahati had been futile as the singer had blocked his number.
In his video explaining the closure, Bahati maintained that his intentions when establishing the label were to help young artists but he lamented that many of those he helped develop had turned against him.
"For me, this was ministry. What is the point of doing this ministry when the ministry is being translated in a bad way, always, leaving you with a bad name? Is there any need to do this?
"As we speak in the country, for the last year or two, I've become one of the most talked-about artists, and I have become one of the artists receiving a lot of hate despite being on top and all that.
"Receiving hate isn't bad, but what is the need for me to receive hate because of the people I've created from scratch? Every artist I have supported, in the gospel industry, no one cares when I start but the moment I make them into something they are lied to and instead of repaying with thanksgiving, they create fake stories to trend.
"The people I gave a chance when no one knew them, they are now converting people to become my biggest haters," he stated.
He insisted that he had grown tired of the barrage of stories about him, stating that he opted to shut down the label to prevent it from further tarnishing his name.
Watch his video below:
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