T.I Blaze has raised fresh questions about his time at Dapper Music after leaving the label in June and launching his own imprint, Rhythm Vault Records. He has questioned how Virgin Music reportedly took a 30% cut and is demanding clarity over what he describes as a significant unexplained amount of money. His departure from Dapper Music had previously been reported in June.
The allegation is still just that, an allegation, and Dapper Music has not publicly responded to the latest claims at the time of reporting. But the bigger issue is why conversations about royalties, intellectual property and accounting keep appearing whenever Nigerian artists leave record labels.
T.I Blaze isn’t the first artist connected to Dapper Music to publicly raise concerns. Similar disputes involving artists including Shallipopi and Muyeez have previously centred on contracts, finances and transparency, although Dapper Music has disputed allegations of unfair treatment.
Interestingly, Dapper Music founder Damilola Akinwunmi has previously acknowledged that financial literacy is a major problem in the industry. In a 2025 interview with BusinessDay, he said artists often don’t understand splits and contracts, while also pointing to provisions in Dapper’s contracts allowing independent audits and legal representation.
That makes the latest dispute particularly interesting. Because “How much money did I make?” should not be a mystery to an artist.
Music generates revenue through multiple channels, streaming, publishing, performances, licensing, distribution and intellectual property. When several companies sit between an artist and that money, the artist needs to know exactly who collected what, why they collected it and what percentage they were entitled to.
And that is where Nigeria’s music industry still has a transparency problem. The industry’s global growth has made music rights increasingly valuable, but the business side has become more complicated at exactly the same time. Artists can become internationally successful while still struggling to understand the contracts governing their catalogues.
For T.I Blaze, starting Rhythm Vault Records could therefore represent more than simply moving on from Dapper. It gives him an opportunity to control his own releases and, importantly, understand where the money goes.
But it also comes with its own challenge: independence means the artist now has to build the infrastructure that a label previously provided. The biggest lesson from this dispute may therefore be simple: Before signing the next hit song, artists need to understand the paperwork behind it.
Before signing the next hit song, artists need to understand the paperwork behind it.
