Tanzanian musician Ali Saleh Kiba alias AliKiba is reported to have parted ways with Sony Music Entertainment Africa after five years of working with the major global music label as an artist.
AliKiba, who made the announcement during an interview, also revealed he terminated his contract with Rockstar 4000 Music Entertainment, a record label and talent management company founded by Christine Mosha, who is the current Head of Marketing and Artist Development for the East Africa at Sony Music Entertainment Africa..
“To be honest sifanyi kazi na Rockstar na Sony…nisingependa kuzungumuzia sasa hivi hadi vile itakua official kabisa (To be honest, I’m no longer working with Rockstar and Sony… I don’t want to talk about it now until it’s made official),” said AliKiba.
Having signed the contract with Sony Music on May 19, 2016, at Sony’s office in Johannesburg, South Africa, this made him the first East African artist to ink a deal with Sony.
According to media reports, the top Bongo musician terminated his contract with Sony following a disagreement over how his musical affairs were being handled. AliKiba’s decision to quit Sony Music comes barely two months after Tanzanian musician Ommy Dimpoz signed a contract with the International music label.
Alikiba currently runs his own record label titled Kings Music. Under it, he has already dropped the ‘Infidele’ single this year. He also finished 2020 on high releasing songs with South Africa’s DJ Sbu and Nandy. Typically, the artist is known to release two songs per year. However, his recent activities indicate he is free to drop new music without going through a management entity like Sony.
King Kiba started his music career in the early 2000’s but became regionally popular in 2008 following the release of his hit song ‘Cinderella’ which became a mega hit in East Africa.
Other hit songs under his belt include ‘Macmuga’, ‘Mapenzi Yana Run Dunia’, ‘Nakshi Mrembo’, ‘Aje’ , ‘Mwana‘, ‘Chekecha Cheketua’ among others.
