Ghanaian singer-songwriter and record producer Afriyie Wutah has accused Nigeria's Burna Boy of using melodies from his song without his permission nor giving him due credit.

Afriyie was referring to his hit 'Here to Stay' and Burna Boy's new hit 'Common Person'.

The singer was on Accra 100.5 FM's mid-morning show Ayekoo Ayekoo, Thursday, February 23, 2023, speaking to host Nana Romeo. 

Stating that he has taken notice of the identical parts of both songs, he shared that: "In fact, it was Jack who called me and even sent a little bit of the song to me [saying]: 'Natty, have you heard this song?'"

"This was like two, three months ago," he indicated.

When "we played at +233 last weekend," he went on, "I met another colleague – I wouldn't want to mention his name and implicate him. When he met me, he said: 'Brother Afriyie, have you heard so and so has sampled your song? He's even sampled your horns and all'."

Afriyie said he told his friend he had noticed also. These cited instances, according to the musician, proved that he was not alone regarding the suspicions.

"Some call it creativity. Others say theft or thievery," he chuckled. 

Burna "changed the key and if you noticed, he did not sing like me but [for example] the saxphone's flow, he played some of my melodies with a guitar."

The seriel hitmaker buttressed his point by singing the melody that carries the lyrics: "I love your imperfections," in the 'Here to Stay' song and argued Burna Boy's team played that on a guitar. 

Comparing the two songs, he said: "It is like someone baking meat pie looking at someone else's bread."

He laughed and rhetorically asked: "What would be the point of pursuing the case, however?" 

"I am not after anything, anyway," he categorically said. "I'm not going after him but I just feel that if somebody is using our template, they should let us know that at least, this is where I am tapping from."

He agreed with Nana Romeo that receiving credit would have been in order. "[It] shows where this [the song] is coming from. I think that's beautiful and right," he added.

"About eight or nine years ago," Afriyie, half of the star Highlife duo Wutah, recalled, "Flavour did the same thing to [Wutah's] 'Kotosa' and no one said a thing because the group had fallen apart."

Highlighting how grievous Flavour's actions were, he noted that the Nigerian singer: "Took my words. He took my lyrics for his 'Kwarikwa' and nobody said anything about it."

"For how long will this go on?" Afriyie questioned, shrugging. 

Romeo wondered why he would not confront Burna about the allegation. 

Afriyie's response was "the fire [controversy] that would follow would be massive. I don't want any trouble." He added that all he wants is for people to notice what has happened for themselves and "that's enough."

However, commenting on 'Common Person', he confessed that: "Trust me, [it's a] beautiful song."

Afriyie also admitted it is possible two songs would bear similarities without the individual musicians hearing their respective songs beforehand. He contended, however, that some similarities are too detailed to be sheer coincidences. 

"You can't take [copy] three minutes and claim you've not heard the original song before," he emphasised. "You'd be lying."

The guitarist also indicated that aside from "a beat" from the late Highlife icon Nana Ampadu's repertoire which he used for a song featuring Sarkodie, 'Go Gaaga', he has never sampled or copied from anyone. He revealed that he asked for Ampadu's permission in advance.

Ampadu eventually hearing the song, "was elated and asked why I hadn't invited him to sing about two bars on it," Afriyie added. "We laughed over that and didn't talk again until his passing."

The latest from the musician often called Afriyie Wutah is 'Cheers to Life'.