Before lockdown: Inside DJ Maphorisa and Prince Kaybee’s twar

With the country weeks into the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, many can recall a time when things like DJ Maphorisa and Prince Kaybee's twar was a talking point for a week. 

While it now seems so petty in the bigger scheme of things, at the time everyone was glued to the TL with big bowls of popcorn. 

So just to add some lightness to the mood, let's reflect on what happened. 

A spicy exchange of words erupted after Maphorisa got the block hot in February when he made an example about owning the masters to his music, alleging that Prince Kaybee, Lady Zamar and Mafikizolo didn't. 

While Lawd Porry claimed the reason behind his name-dropping was because he wanted to show other musicians the importance of owning their masters, Kaybee hit back at Maphorisa with a list of his various income streams.

He also hinted that Maphorisa could've made his point without dropping any names -especially his.  

The pair soon got into a back-and-forth exchange of words on the TL, with both bringing receipts for their respective contributions to the music scene. They fought over everything from radio and streaming statistics to the size of their muscles and the cars they drove.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Kaybee said he decided to respond to Maphorisa because he felt he needed to inform him of his income streams.

Although owning the masters to your music can clearly be a touchy subject for many artists, Kaybee said he had no grudge against Maphorisa and would still greet him if he were to bump into him in public.

Even after the exchange of words on the TL, Kaybee expressed that he was not fighting with Maphorisa. “I don't know about him, but I'm not fighting,” he said.

When asked why he didn't contact Maphorisa in person instead of entertaining his tweets, Kaybee questioned why he should have done so when Maphorisa initially went public with his comments.

“He didn't contact me in person, so I didn't see the need to contact him in private.” 

The week-long twar saw Maphorisa produce thorough receipts, saying Kaybee may dominate radio stats but he ruled the game when it came to sales figures.

Kaybee hit back hard at Maphorisa with a thread that depicted that he was the only artist in the last five years to have three singles reach diamond status and seven singles to go platinum in one album.

“LOL, rratuku come on papa, do those clothes you wear on your head burn your brain to this extent? Let's go. In the last five years, I’m the only artist with three singles to go diamond and seven singles to go platinum in one album. Let me repeat: in one album. I’m not done. Read the thread.” 

In his thread, Kaybee added that Maphorisa was creating all this “masters” talk just to hype his concert, adding that he was "glad" that his name could help give him the promotion he needed.

“I also understand that you trying to push your concert, so you have to mention that one artist that drops one song and tops charts, while you drop 20 albums in one year. I’m glad to contribute to the hype of your ticket sales, you are my brother after all,” he wrote.

Feeling that Kaybee had no leg to stand on, Maphorisa replied by saying: “Ish ish Kaybee, I started FL ka Fruity Lopps 3.4 [sic] ya demo - it's in my skin for life, it changed my life. Probably you were eating mamina ge nna ke thoma this journey. Your arms still need to fu**en work hard to reach my level, homeboy. I'm done with you.”

With countless music concerts having been cancelled since President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national shutdown in March, banning all social gatherings, Kaybee threw massive shade at musicians who rely solely on income from their “masters” during the lockdown period.

Making reference to the twar he had with Maphorisa weeks ago, the producer and DJ's advice to Lawd Porry was to “diversify his portfolio” now that gigs have been cancelled.

Taking to Twitter, Kaybee said: “They called me arrogant when I said, 'diversify your portfolio'. Now gigs are cancelled, masters are not moving, people [are] applying for payment holidays - it's feverish.”

After one follower claimed Kaybee wasn't being honest about how tiresome it can be to run a trucking company, the DJ clapped back by revealing that one stream of income tends to give rise to others, adding that one stream can make up for another in hard times.

“One day when you have woke rich friends, they will tell you that one stream of income will give birth to the second [and] third, so they help each other out in times where [one] is not doing well.

“But I don’t wanna overwhelm you with my asset register - they will call it boasting.”

While some believe the duo were just having fun trolling each other, others can't help but admit how they've been entertained by the two hitmakers, who continue to spice up the TL .