Ma-E: I took a knock over everything that happened at Cashtime

Ezee "Mae- E" Hanabe went through a period of negativity and took a knock in confidence as he watched the Cashtime Life entertainment company he had helped build slowly crumble.

Reflecting on his last few months at the label which officially stopped producing new music earlier this year, Ma-E told TshisaLIVE he had faced a barrage of abuse after he released an album while several of the artists on the label had left.

"I got alot of negativity from social media and the people involved. I took a knock. I was part of the business and the fact that I had released an album while things were happening and people were leaving. People were saying that I couldn't run a company and that I could not be a businessman and artists at the same time," he said. 

He claimed that he had tried to steer the label in a certain direction and develop much needed unity at the label but admitted that he was often too passive and was "voted out" of many decisions.

"You discuss about something and you suggest something but there are two other people going another direction so the company goes that way. At the end of the day when everything falls apart, everyone has to take the blame. I also had to take the blame because I was not strong enough. I wasn't harsh enough as a leader. I didn't fight for things I should have."

Wanting to put the negativity and dark days behind him, Ma-E started his own record company and started working on new music. He released his sophomore album, entitled 212, on Monday to hype from fans and soon found the album hitting the Twitter trends list and topping the iTunes hip-hop charts.

"It was a surprise for fans because I have been promising them all year that I would be releasing music after what happened with Cashtime. For me, this album is about showing people that you can move on and look forward. That is me, I know that when things are bad, I just have to move on and pray to God that things will work out. And they have."

The Ugogo hitmaker said that despite their failures in business, he still had a strong relationship with Cashtime founder K.O.

"He is my brother. I call him all the time and we speak out our careers. In business, things didn't go well but he will remain my brother. He knows what he did wrong and I know what I did wrong but I still rely on him and value his advice."

Ma-E has also mended his once broken relationship with his biological brother and former Teargas member Bantu "Ntukza" Hanabe. Their explosive relationship hit the headlines last year after Ntukza took to Twitter to share his disappointment in his brother and urge him to stay loyal to family rather than friends.

"We call each other all the time and he is my blood. People have moments (where they fight) but you have to speak if you are family, There were awkward moments but we had to speak because we are blood brothers. Now we have settled our differences and we are all good."