Mas Musiq has officially released his highly anticipated Amapiano project, “Lane Yam”, featuring major artists like DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, and Daliwonga. However, the album's release wasn't without drama.
The tension began with the track “Amalanga Awafani”. Fans noticed that Samthing Soweto’s name was missing from the credits, which led to heated discussions on social media.
The issue stemmed from a dispute over master rights with Samthing Soweto feeling left out.
He later confessed to lying about DJ Maphorisa’s involvement in his 2019 album “Isiphithiphithi”.
He said: “I lied about Maphorisa’s contributions to my project. He didn’t produce anything.”
Samthing Soweto explained that his dishonesty was due to insecurity. He believed associating with Maphorisa would help sell more records.
He also clarified that Kabza De Small, Howard, and Mas Musiq were responsible for 60% of the album’s production. While the move helped boost his sales, he now regrets it, saying it cost him both his creative rights and dignity.
Despite paying for his masters, Samthing Soweto revealed he hasn’t received compensation and accused Maphorisa of spreading false information.
In the lead up to “Lane Yam" release, the controversy surrounding ”Amalanga“ grew. Fans were curious to see if Soweto would feature on the track.
However, when the album dropped, South African musician Chley, whose real name is Siphesihle Nkosi, had replaced his vocals, leaving many surprised.
Podcaster Sol Phenduka weighed in on the issue on X, tweeting: “Shame man. The original song was a song-of-the-year contender. Can’t help but feel for Mas 💔.”
@zinn_le commented: “This is what happens when you allow people to take advantage of other peoples talents, including yours. That song was definitely a song of the year contender. Still rings in my head constantly.”
@SbuMbuli_SA also wrote: “Bro it’s so sad that a beautiful song was ruined because of someone’s greediness.”
While @BrazoWaAfrika wrote: “In all this I feel sorry for Mas, his album is being overshadowed by this whole issue of this song. To think he contributed towards probably 80% of Samthing Soweto’s piano songs, I may not know the entire story but they did him dirty.”
@uuniversalmusic wrote: “The new Mas Musiq song is garbage without Samthing Soweto, the original song was the contender of the year!
“Mas Musiq removed Samthing Soweto’s vocals from ‘Amalanga Awafani’, they will ever work together after this! Let's admit Samthing Sowetos voice makes a difference.“