After being snubbed for the 2016 Groove Awards, singer Bahati has finally addressed the beef between him and fellow gospel artiste Willy Paul that played out as a circus on social media for the better part of last year.
In a thanksgiving ceremony held Tuesday at the KICC, Bahati openly asked for forgiveness from his fans and peers in the music industry saying he could have dealt with the whole situation better.
“The last two years have been hard, there have been so many stories published on the blogs and newspapers. It officially started with Willy Paul, then Daddy Owen and finally not being nominated for Groove Awards,” he said.
In 2015, Bahati in a long letter posted on social media accused Willy Paul of stealing his unreleased songs which he (Willy Paul) went on to re-name and release as his own.
Late last year in December, Bahati weighed in on the Denno and Daddy Owen tiff in claims that the Mbona singer (Denno) did not get any royalties from the song.
NEW SONG
“I like to acknowledge my mistakes when I’m wrong, I didn’t deal with things the right way. It was painful when I wrote that letter to Willy. I apologise because I feel like I could have dealt with it better as a Christian, same with Daddy Owen and I ended up not being nominated,” he said.
The Barua singer has, however, bounced back with a new song titled In Love and officially launched the video Tuesday in a ceremony that saw him thank those who have supported him in his career this far.
“I thank God for not being nominated in the awards because I was in the process of being a new person. Groove Awards have played a huge role in my career and I wouldn’t be honest if I said otherwise. I have achieved a lot but that isn’t important if I’m not at peace with the people who helped in making me who I am. I want to ask for your forgiveness,” he said.
Bahati’s In Love video was shot in South Africa.
“I’ve learnt a lot from my mistakes and I wouldn’t want to go back there. My desire now is to grow and take our music to Africa,” said Bahati.
