Crayon Calls Out Don Jazzy, Accuses Mavin Records of Betrayal in Emotional Rant
The 28-year-old Afropop artist, signed to the label since 2019, leveled accusations against Don Jazzy's top executives and fellow star Rema, while hinting at a dramatic departure under a new entertainment outfit.
On Sunday evening, the Nigerian music industry woke up to a firestorm. Charles Chibueze Chukwu, the Lagos-born Afropop singer better known as Crayon, took to his X account and unleashed a barrage of emotionally charged posts targeting the leadership of Mavin Records, one of Africa’s most powerful record labels, in what observers are calling the most turbulent public rupture in the imprint’s storied 14-year history.
The 28-year-old artiste began his posts with a confusing mix of praise and aggression while mentioning Mavin founder Don Jazzy and the label’s chief operating officer, Tega Oghenejobo. The posts, cryptic in structure but unambiguous in emotion, have since ignited fierce debate across social media platforms about artist welfare, label obligations, and the real cost of stardom inside Nigeria’s most lucrative music ecosystems.
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In the posts, Crayon appeared to take a swipe at Don Jazzy while simultaneously extending an unusual form of affection toward him, before turning his attention to the label’s COO with a far harsher remark, describing Oghenejobo as the “highest criminal.”
The tonal whiplash left fans and industry observers scrambling to decode them. Many social media users described some of the messages as cryptic and difficult to understand, with phrases comparing himself to fellow Mavin artist Rema and others that appeared to accuse someone of stealing his identity as a star.
In one of the more pointed posts, Crayon directed his frustration at labelmate Rema, writing that the “Calm Down” hitmaker would not receive a feature from him for the next century, and accusing him of stealing his shine.
Perhaps the most harrowing allegation came when Crayon claimed that he lost his mother because of the label, although he did not provide additional details or context for the statement. The claim immediately drew widespread sympathy and shock, with fans noting that the singer had been noticeably less active in public life since his mother’s passing. Many believe that personal grief, combined with industry pressure, could be affecting him.
Charles Chibueze Chukwu was born on July 8, 1997, in Orile Iganmu, a community in Surulere, Lagos State, hailing from Ebonyi State, and moving to Ojo, Lagos at the age of seven, where he grew up in a family of four. His road to music was neither straight nor comfortable.
He overcame a period of depression in 2015 after failing to gain university admission, and later battled drug addiction, a struggle he credited fellow artist Rema with helping him survive. The irony of now publicly feuding with the same person he once credited with saving his life has not been lost on fans.
His passion for music ignited early, partly due to his father’s CD shop, which became a childhood playground that sparked his lifelong connection to sound. By 2016, he had recorded his first song inside a neighborhood studio in Ojoba Barracks, where he crossed paths with producer Ozedikus Nwanne. He tirelessly promoted his songs to radio stations across Lagos, facing rejection from many, until City 105.1 FM became the first station to air his music.
His musical talent was eventually discovered by Mavin in-house producer Baby Fresh, and in May 2019, Crayon was signed to Blowtime Entertainment, an imprint of Mavin Records, releasing his debut EP “Cray Cray” on July 12, 2019. The six-track project spawned his first hits and earned him a Rookie of the Year nomination at the 2019 Headies Awards. Subsequent releases, including the EP “Twelve A.M.” and the single “Ijo (Laba Laba),” which peaked at number five on the Turntable Top 100 chart, cemented his reputation as one of Afrobeats’ most promising young voices.
To understand what is at stake, one must understand the institution Crayon is publicly unraveling in real time.
Mavin Records is a Nigerian corporation and record label founded by Don Jazzy on May 8, 2012, following the closure of Mo’ Hits Records. The label’s roster has been a who’s who of Nigerian music royalty. Don Jazzy signed Tiwa Savage upon founding the label and, over the years, brought in talents including Di’Ja, Reekado Banks, Korede Bello, Johnny Drille, Ladipoe, and Rema, whose own signing was announced in March 2019, just months before Crayon joined.
Mavin, however, is no stranger to high-profile departures. Wande Coal exited under acrimony, Reekado Banks announced his departure in December 2018, and Tiwa Savage left in May 2019 to sign with Universal Music Group. Each exit, in its own way, raised questions about the delicate balance between artist development and commercial infrastructure at the label, questions that Crayon’s posts are now reigniting with fresh urgency.
While Don Jazzy remains the face most associated with Mavin’s brand, it is Tega Oghenejobo, the label’s Chief Operating Officer, who bore the sharpest end of Crayon’s public criticism. Crayon accused Oghenejobo of financial wrongdoing, making a striking claim about money he alleged the label had collected without sharing with him. Oghenejobo has not responded publicly to any of the allegations.
What makes this episode particularly significant is that Crayon appears to have been laying the groundwork for a new chapter long before Sunday’s posts. His latest single, “Baami,” produced by his frequent collaborator Ozedikus, arrived without the usual Mavin branding or promotion typically seen when artists from the label release new music, instead appearing under a new outfit identified as Olodum Entertainment.
Crayon also issued an open call for creative talent to design a flag for the new label, offering a flamboyant cash prize to attract collaborators. It remains unclear whether Crayon’s X account was compromised, as he continued posting normally on Instagram without indicating that his account had been hacked.
The posts quickly drew reactions from across the Nigerian entertainment landscape. Veteran music producer Samklef seized on the moment, suggesting that recent events at Mavin Records could represent a form of karmic reckoning, and expressing the view that Don Jazzy had now been seen for who he truly is.
Samklef also questioned the welfare of other Mavin artists, including Ayra Starr, whose recent video appearance he described as visibly strained. The wider public reaction has been mixed. Some fans have expressed deep sympathy for Crayon, citing the emotional weight of his posts and the apparent grief over his mother’s death. Others have urged caution, noting the fragmented and erratic nature of the messages. A smaller contingent has raised the possibility that the posts were staged as a publicity strategy ahead of new music.
Neither Mavin Records, Don Jazzy, Tega Oghenejobo, nor Rema had issued any public statement in response to the outburst as of the time of this report. The silence from one of Nigeria’s most media-savvy entertainment institutions has itself become part of the story.
Neither Crayon nor the label has officially confirmed any split, and no legal or contractual details have been made public. What is clear is that the relationship between one of Afrobeats’ most promising young talents and the continent’s most powerful record label has reached a public inflection point, one that the industry will be watching very closely in the days ahead.
For Crayon, a young man who grew up listening to music in his father’s CD shop on the outskirts of Lagos, who survived addiction and grief and the brutal anonymity of rejection, the next chapter, whatever it looks like, will once again be entirely his own to write.
Mavin Records did not respond to a request for comment.
