Popular singer, Oludipe David, aka Spyro, has clarified his experiences during his time with his former label boss, Paul Okoye. He acknowledged Okoye’s good intentions and kindness but expressed doubts about his understanding of the record label system at the time.
“Paulo has good intent and he is a kind person, but I personally didn’t feel that he knew much about the record label system as of then,” Spyro stated.
He also added that he experienced abuse and other things he was not willing to talk about.
This clarification comes after an exchange on social media, where Okoye and his daughter, Vannessa, responded to Spyro’s claims that he did not earn any money during his time with the label. In an episode of the Echo Room podcast that went viral during the week, Spyro recounted his struggles in the music industry,
He revealed, “I was signed to PaulO of One Africa Music Fest. I didn’t make anything from the label, and PaulO knew my plight but did nothing about it. I was in tears because nothing was going well for me. I was signed to a label owned by a billionaire with three Rolls Royces, yet nothing to show.”
Spyro also called out music executive, Ubi Franklin, vowing to hold him accountable for allegedly owing him payment for a performance. He claimed that Franklin leveraged on Davido’s name to trick him into performing at a show for a reduced fee of $5,000 in Ghana.
After the show, Spyro alleged that Franklin kept offering excuses when asked about his payment.
Franklin, however, countered these claims by accusing Spyro of failing to pay him a 10 per cent commission from a car deal worth over a hundred million naira.
He said, “Before the day of the show, Spyro had reached out to me that he wanted to buy a car and that’s what I do. If I connect you on a deal, I get 10 per cent. I connected him to the deal and he picked up the car without giving me my 10 per cent.”
Franklin alleged that he covered expenses for Spyro’s trip to Ghana, adding that while he intended to pay Spyro $5,000 for the show, he claimed that Spyro owed him N2.5m after subtracting his N10.5m.