Music group Alabaster Box (L) and Medikal (R)
Samuel Dowuona, leader of Ghanaian music group Alabaster Box, has called out rapper Medikal over what he describes as the disrespectful handling of a copyright dispute involving the group’s song “Akwaaba.”
The issue arose when Medikal released a track titled Welcome to Africa, which, according to Alabaster Box, used a portion of their song Akwaaba in the first 10 seconds without permission.
On April 8, 2025, the group’s legal team served a copyright infringement notice to Medikal and his team, demanding that the song be removed from all streaming platforms and that all business activity linked to the song cease immediately.
They also requested a full account of the revenue generated from the song and the names of individuals or companies involved in its promotion and distribution.
However, the group noted that all attempts to officially deliver the letter to Medikal failed. As a result, they sought assistance from the High Court in Accra and were granted permission to serve the rapper through substituted service, allowing legal documents to be delivered through alternative means when direct contact is not possible.
In an interview with Joy Prime TV on June 27, 2025, Samuel Dowuona detailed their struggle to reach Medikal.
He revealed that they eventually obtained the contact information of Medikal’s manager, Kofi Jam, and their lawyer reached out to him.
“We managed to get his manager, Kofi Jam’s number. Our lawyer called him, spoke with him, and said, ‘We want to deliver a letter to you.’ He responded, ‘I’ll call back and show you where to deliver the letter.’ From that point on, this gentleman decided he was not going to pick any calls from us again,” Dowuona recounted.
After being ignored, they sent the legal document to the manager via WhatsApp. The message was read, but they still received no response.
Instead of addressing the issue, Dowuona said Medikal and his team quietly edited the YouTube version of the song by deleting the first 10 seconds, which contained the alleged copyright violation.
“Then the letter was sent to him via WhatsApp. The blue tick came, but they still decided to remain silent. What they did instead was go on YouTube and delete the first 10 seconds, the part that was the infringement. Of course, I’m not a lawyer, but once you delete it, that’s an admission of something. But it’s okay. Even so, for me, that is an insult,” he said.
Dowuona argued that quietly removing the section without communication or an apology was not just an attempt to sidestep the issue but also deeply disrespectful to the group.
“You don’t want to talk to us, just delete the file, no problem. But then you go to all the other platforms, and the full version is still there. So what have you really done?” he asked.
The group maintains that the matter is far from resolved and expects Medikal and his team to formally address their demands.
“Deleting just 10 seconds is an insult” – Samuel Dowuona calls out Medikal’s team for silence over copyright issue #PrimeMorning pic.twitter.com/JqGP2P0JyF
— Joy Prime (@JoyPrimeTV) June 27, 2025
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