Neo Makate, a board member of Recording South Africa (Risa) and owner of Waltz Music Group, has been identified as the man behind the name "Grootman" and accused of being a gatekeeper. It is not Maphorisa as previously perceived by many.
THE REAL GATEKEEPER?
Tee Jay, who recently signed a new deal with singer Nomcebo Zikode’s record label called Emazulwini Entertainment, revealed that Makate has been exploiting artists by offering them unfair deals and taking advantage of his position at Risa. "We have been quiet about this guy for a very long time, and now is it about time that people know that Neo Makate is the real gatekeeper, and he is the guy who has been exploiting us all along. He is using his power as the Risa board member to benefit himself," Tee Jay, real name Jabulani Chuene, said. He added that Neo approached him, Sir Trill, the late Mpura Mpura, DJ Thakzin, singers Nkosazana Daughter, and Boohle to offer them a deal through his company. “In his contract with his company, he offered us 4% and would take all the 94%. We all rejected that deal except for Boohle. She realised that the deal was unfair later and left, " he said. Tee Jay also alleges that Makate sold the masters of their songs to Def Jam Africa, where he took a loan of R150 000. He further alleges that when they were about to release an EP with Thakzin, he went to take another loan from a music distribution company, Electromode.
THE FEATURES
The songs in question are Yini Sdakwa, which features Sir Trill, Mpura Mpura, Thakzin, and Nkosazane Daughter; Izitha by Nkosazane Daughter; Samsokolo by Rascoe Koes; and 1000 000 Amapiano Seconds by Tee Jay and Thakzin. "I have been trying to get justice for us since 2020. The guy is heartless because he never even thought about giving the money to Mpura’s family,” he said. “He even sold Mpura’s masters too, and his family didn’t get a cent. The sad part is that it was us who were doing all the work. Mpura and Sir Trill didn’t get a cent, yet they made those songs. My working relationship with Thakzin ended because of Neo," he said. Makate recently introduced himself in the music industry, and he calls himself Dj McFarlene. ZiMoja has the emails that were sent to Makate and Def Jam Africa. Other artists that are said to stop working with Makate are Bizizi no Kaygee, who accused him of robbing them of their money on Gigabyte and Kokota Piano songs, and Daliwonga ft. Luh 911 in Umjolo song. When contacted for a comment, Makate said: "Unfortunately, I can’t be attending all these TV shows or podcasts in the land. I’ve said what I said and if people haven’t heard my side of the story, please check MacG’s podcast. I’m not keen. Tee Jay may say his side." The podcast has not been aired. Attempts to get comment from Universal Music Managing Director Manusha Serawan, which Def Jam falls under, proved fruitless as she failed to respond to our questions sent to her on Tuesday.
