Hard Questions: Is there an agreement between Portable and Pocolee?

The Nigerian music industry is a tough place, especially for a person who does not know or understand the dynamics of it, or how things run in the industry. One of such cases is the recent one of rising act, Portable also known as Dr. Zeh and celebrated singer Pocolee.

Over the years, we have seen several make ups and break ups in the Nigerian music industry, all or most caused by one or both party’s nonchalance towards reaching a concrete agreement towards what terms or contract their relationship covers.

In some other cases, the terms were clearly spelled out, and being a young bloke who is upcoming, hungry and in need of a breakthrough, the acts take whatever is offered, with the intention of being able to buy themselves out in the future.

While speaking with a couple of friends a while back, someone had mentioned that the ‘Nigerian music industry is a deep sea, with sharks lurking around, looking for what to eat’, and that had not registered till scenes started playing out.

Over time, we have seen artists have a bad breakout with the labels that helped them up solely because of the insane and inhumane terms of the label’s contract. That in itself is a different case on its own, unlike the one we see playing out with Portable and Pocolee.

In case you missed it, there is a new song and slang in town, and it is from an act known as Portable. He became an online sensation for his freestyle which always included the slang ‘Zazu Zeh.’ Even though many people didn’t know him, several others are familiar with him and his style, so much that he had already started getting invites to perform at shows on the Mainland. So, it is not a surprise that he eventually got a nod from popular Nigerian indigenous rapper, Olamide.

Portable was opportuned to be called to make his ‘Zazu Zeh’ into a proper song with the Nigerian rapper, and that was an opportunity of a lifetime for him. While that could help him get fame, there are other parties involved in the process and the terms of engagement are not clear to the public.

Till now, it is unclear whether it was Pocolee who arranged Portable’s meeting with Olamide, or it was an international music promoter, Kogbagidi, but with the recent issues that have since trended online, getting reactions from several Nigerians, there are some hard questions that need to be answered.

Earlier this week, Portable had performed on stage alongside Pocolee and Olamide in a show with Wizkid where the Grammy-winning superstar had sprayed the upcoming act $100 notes that were said to fall at a total of $3000. Later on, Portable called out Pocolee online for giving him only $600 out of the money while expressing other grievances like hijacking his song from him.

Here are the hard questions that come after all the week’s drama.

Q: Is there an agreement for Poco Lee to claim ownership of the song?

It is important to state that the ‘Zazu Zeh’ song is making waves, pushing Pocoleup to the Top 5 Most-Streamed Electronic & Pop Artists on Audiomack this week. One thing that stands out very clearly is that Pocolee owns the Zazu song, featuring Portable and Olamide.

In the actual sense, we all understand that is not true, and the only way it will be alright is if Portable was sat down and the conversation on ownership was had with him. Anything outside of that will indicate that Portable’s claim that his song was being hijacked by Pocolee is true.

One other thing that is obvious but might not mean anything is the distortion in the title of the song, from the original ‘Zazu Zeh’ that Portable uses for the song to ‘Zazoo Zehh’ used in uploading the song on streaming platforms.

Q: What prompts anyone to pick money sprayed on another person and hold on to more than 50% of it?

Although Portable’s way of expressing himself by coming online to rant might have not been the best way to go about things, it is understandable for someone like him who is not used to the way the media works.

His manner of expression apart, the most important question is where it is ever okay for anyone to pick money informally sprayed on another person and decide that the original owner only deserves 20% of that money. Unless maybe there is a managerial agreement on how monies are shared that is not revealed to the public.

It can be argued that Portable has been sleeping in houses owned by those managing him, feeding, and doing other things for free so money has to go into that as well. But then again, this is a hard question on whether there is an agreement between all those involved in this drama. Was Portable aware of what he was getting into?

Conclusion

If the answers to these questions are that there is no agreement, then Portable is being used and by the look of things, those involved will milk him dry till they’ve gotten everything out of him. The sad part is that he gets the crumbs from his song and he gets thrown back into the street.

On another hand, those involved in this might understand well enough that there is no future investing in him, realizing that the fame he enjoys is just for the moment and decide to use that. So, it can be argued that it is just business but it is also true that Portable’s ignorance has been capitalized on to cheat him into giving up what belongs to him for crumbs and the ‘lifestyle.’

Either way, Portable stands to lose more at the end of it all.