Rising Amapiano star Thabza Berry has been left fuming, hurt and disappointed over visual similarities between her Piano Culture music video and that of Ghanama by Makhadzi.
Speaking to Sowetan through her father and manager Charles Shai, the musician, 19, believes that the look, feel and aesthetic of the two videos are too close.
But record label boss Lionel Jamela has rubbished all claims made against Makhadzi and urged Thabza Berry to “work harder”.
“This artist must focus on her craft. She must not try to get publicity by using my artist’s [Makhadzi] name. If you want fame, you must go back to studio and work harder,” Jamela said.
“Makhadzi is a killer performer and everyone wants a piece of her. She’s using Makhadzi’s fame so we can get more views on her video now.”
Shai directed Thabza Berry’s video first in April, but said he lost some of the footage filmed.
A reshot was done at the beginning of May and released at the end of that month. It currently has 12,000 views on YouTube.
Shai said because of the similarities in art direction, his concern was that the public perception will be that his daughter copied Makhadzi, who is a bigger name.
The location used for Thabza Berry’s clip is a basketball court, while Makhadzi used a tennis court.
In the Piano Culture video a helicopter is used as motif, while Shai feels that they replaced that in Ghanama with a bus as a recurring theme.
Piano Culture also uses a red Porsche and in Ghanama a red BMW is used.
Thabza Berry can be seen wearing a black leather dress, while Makhadzi also sports a black two piece and a leather jacket.
But the icing on top is that the two videos used the same male dancers — Limpopo Boy and Rush Mabanana — who rock the same outfit for both videos and use akin dance moves.
“There is nothing wrong with shooting on a similar location, but what I have a problem with is taking the same shots, using the same people and dress code,” Shai said.
“I didn’t compromise on that video, even after I lost the first footage, because I wanted to produce something that will elevate my daughter’s brand to the next level. These people are taking the pride my daughter had and that is painful as a parent.
“She’s deeply hurt considering that she looked up to Makhadzi.”
Jamela confirmed to Sowetan that Makhadzi’s video was filmed two weeks ago. It was released last Saturday and has 894,000 views on YouTube.
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