He revealed that, the group has paid him for using his intellectual property.

Speaking to DJ Slim on Hitz FM‘s morning show Daybreak Hitz, Kwame said lawyers from both sides came into a mutual agreement, and he is happy the right thing has been done.

“Both the apology and the money came, but it was not any scary arrangement as in asking them to pay any specific amount of money. They named the amount they wanted to pay, and I didn’t have to go back and forth with them,” he said.

He, however, declined to mention the amount of money that was paid to him.

“It is not something that needs to be made public,” he noted.

The music producer also stated that arrangements have been made for the split of royalties that the song will generate.

How it all started

Kwame Mickey, the executive producer for Hallelujah Voices’ ‘Defe Defe’ said Team Eternity Ghana had infringed on his copyright by using the ‘defe defe’ line for their new hit song.

He wrote: “Who is that Defe Defe singer? If I start right now, them go say I am ‘mansonia’. What is the difference between the two songs? Somebody tell her to report and do the needful. That’s all.”

He went ahead to write to YouTube to disable the visibility of Team Eternity’s ‘Defe Defe’ on the view platform until they sorted out copyright issues with him.

This generated debates on social media.

While some assert that ‘Defe Defe’ is not an expression created by Hallelujah Voices for which reason they cannot lay claim to it, others say there are similarities in the lyrics.

Hallelujah Voices sing “manhyia Nyame a anka ɔbonsam ayɛ me defe defe,” and Team Eternity sing “manhyia Nyame a anka y’ayɛ me defe defe.”

‘Defe defe’ in Twi, is an adverb used to describe the gravity of an unpleasant situation. Other synonyms for ‘defe defe’ are ‘pasa pasa’, and ‘basa basa’.

Although structurally, the rhythmic patterns and melodic phrases of the two lines are different, Kwame Mickey is making a case for the similarities in the lyrical content.

‘Defe Defe’ song, performed by Hallelujah Voices, was written by Osuani Afrifa and executive-produced by Kwame Mickey for Kaakyire Music Productions.

It was released in 2004.

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This was announced in a statement signed by Kwame Mickey on Monday, July 1, 2024.

“The parties have duly entered into a Licence Agreement under which Kwame Mickey grants to Team Eternity Ghana the non-executive right to use in the new song, those words derived from the existing song,” portions of the statement read.

The veteran producer in June accused the Christian group of unlawfully sampling a song by one of his artistes, Helleluyah Voices.

In a social media post, Mickey pointed out striking similarities between the title and lyrics of Team Eternity’s “Defe Defe” and a song released by his Helleluyah Voices 15 years ago.

He subsequently wrote to Youtube to disable Team Eternity’s ‘Defe Defe’ on the view platform until they sorted out copyright issues with him.

Below is the full statement

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Veteran music producer Kwame Mickey has accused the Christian group of unlawfully sampling a song by one of his artistes, Helleluyah Voices.

The controversy erupted when Kwame Mickey took to social media to express his grievances, posting, “Who is that Defe Defe Singer? If I start right now them go say I am mansonia. What is the difference between the two songs? Somebody tell her to report and do the needful, that’s all.”

In his post, Mickey pointed out striking similarities between the title and lyrics of Team Eternity’s “Defe Defe” and a song released by his Helleluyah Voices 15 years ago.

He claimed that both songs share the same lines, composure, and arrangement, although they feature different melodies.

Mickey’s allegations are bolstered by comparisons showing that the lyrics and structure of “Defe Defe” closely mirror those of the earlier song by Helleluyah Voices, despite the differences in musical composition.

“Defe Defe,” released early this year, has garnered significant attention and acclaim within the gospel music community.

However, this scandal threatens to overshadow its success, raising questions about the originality of Team Eternity’s work.

As of now, Team Eternity has not issued any official response to the accusations.

Listen to both songs below:

According him, some royalties that were paid to the award-winning producer on behalf of some Ghanaian musicians by YouTube were reportedly not given to them.

Speaking on Tete-a-Tete on Asempa FM about the re-emergence of the Ghana Association of Phonographic Industry, which is made up of music producers in Ghana, Mr Micky alleged that YouTube tasked Mr Djan to compile some Ghanaian songs for them and subsequently paid royalties of the songs to him, but he failed to pay them to the artistes.

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He continued that some of the songs he produced including songs from veteran artistes like Dr Paa Bobo were part of the list of songs that were submitted but the royalties were not duly paid after Mr Djan received them on behalf of the selected artistes.

However, when Asempa FM reached the Chief Executive Officer of OM Studios, Mr Djan, he denied and allegations and described them as unfounded.

He opined that he paid all the artistes whose works were selected and that he does not understand the basis of Mr Micky’s claims.