The veteran South African musician, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, made claims that Chicco Twala allegedly failed to give her her deserved royalties for her input in the song ‘Umqombothi.’
According to the singer, she co-composed some elements in the song, therefore she deserved to be paid for doing that. She said,
“Umqombothi was written by Chicco, but I added some elements to it. I added that Nawu! Nawu! Madoda and Everybody parts. I have never received a cent from that project. They didn’t credit me, and back then, I was young and clueless about the music industry. This is the first time I’m speaking out about this.”
She continued, “Umqombothi made me who I am today, but I am hurt because I was never credited as the co-composer of the song. I was supposed to be credited as the co-composer of the song as some elements that I contributed to the song.”
Reacting to Yvonne’s claim, Twala said,
“Yvonne earned millions out of live concerts, and the whole of Africa knows that, if not the whole world. Me and Attie, as the writers of the song, didn’t even make half a quarter of the money she made from that song. Performers make almost 90% of any hit that a songwriter makes.”