Over two years have passed since conscious hip-hop MC and community activist Mr Devious (aka Marion van Rooy) was murdered in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town. His murder trial has yet to be concluded and his widow, Natalie van Rooy, still seems no closer to releasing a compilation of his music. This is because Mighty Music Africa’s Bruce Williams has 10 Devious tracks and won’t hand it over until van Rooy, a mother of three, pays him R28,124.80.

Some progress was made, though. Director John Fredericks and Rainbow Circle Films made a film about the slain artist. Fredericks befriended Devious after sourcing hip-hop musicians for one of his films. They also shared a passion for youth work and spent a great deal of their time working for CRED (Creative Education with Youth at Risk), an NGO that works in places like Pollsmoor Prison in order to offer participants “constructive alternatives to crime and gang violence” (see www.cred.org.za for details). Fredericks’ documentary, Mr Devious the first: my life, was aired on SABC 1 on 6 March this year. In the film Shamiel Adams of Baobab Connections (www.baobabconnections.org), an anti-corporate globalisation organisation, comments on the irony that Devious recorded music with practically everybody, but never released his own album.

Most of the artists and producers with whom Mr Devious recorded gave his widow full permission to release the music as a compilation album that will be released in May with the DVD version of Mr Devious the first: my life. In the meantime, Rainbow Circle Films launched the official Mr Devious website www.mr-devious.com. It offers free mp3 downloads, music videos, poetry and song lyrics.

The tracks being held by Bruce Williams were recorded in the late 90s at his studio as part of an agreement with Ghetto Ruff. Many kwaito and hip-hop fans will know Ghetto Ruff’s major artists like Zola, Amu, Pitch Black Afro, Ishmael and Brasse vannie Kaap. It also released the soundtrack to the Oscar award-winning film Tsotsi. Devious left Ghetto Ruff after unhappiness about how he was treated. Apparently, he also did not want to abandon his wife and children to pursue a musical career in Jo’burg. The album was not released and Williams kept it because he says Ghetto Ruff never paid him.

Williams says he approached Devious’ father about a year ago “to try and negotiate an amicable deal where we would release the album and we would pay them … the correct royalties that were due to them for songwriting.” The father responded negatively, but Natalie van Rooy contacted Williams toward the end of last year to talk about accessing the music.

In e-mail correspondence between Williams and van Rooy earlier this year Williams writes, “As an act of good faith, I am still prepared to offer you the same deal as discussed in December (R28,124.80, full buyout) up to the 25th of February 2006. However I will require your absolute commitment to pay 50%(R14,062.40) on or before the 28th of February with the balance of(R14,062.40) by the 31st of March 2006.”

In the same e-mail Williams advises a cash-strapped van Rooy: “Just for your info: if you are in need of funds, ABSA are offering loans of up to R50,000.00 with no repayments for the first 3 months but you have to apply by March.” In later e-mails, it becomes clear that tension began to mount. Van Rooy says that she cannot afford to pay Williams. In fact, Rainbow Circle Films is trying to raise funds to assist her. A key concern was also that she had not heard the music in question.

Williams writes, “I believe I have been extremely patient and considerate, but there is a limit as to how long I can wait for a decision. I respect your need to verify the quality of the recordings and I can assure you that they were created with state of the art equipment at the time.”

In a telephonic interview Williams rejected the idea that he is “holding the music to ransom.” Instead, he is merely trying to “recoup” some of his losses and he is now being “messed around” by van Rooy. Williams admits that he did not pursue legal action against Ghetto Ruff to recover the debt.

However, a key twist in the plot is that Ghetto Ruff’s Lance Stehr says that he does not owe Mighty Music any money. Stehr contends, “There was an agreement that Ghetto Ruff would do a royality (sic) split with Mighty Music in the event of the album being released.” The implication is that neither party saw a return on their investment because the album was not released. Williams and Stehr both confirm that they entered into a verbal agreement. Stehr adds that the agreement between Ghetto Ruff and Devious “had not been put in writing” either.

Williams says he co-produced the music with producer Shaheen Ariefdien, who refutes this claim. In an interview by e-mail Ariefdien writes, “I’m pretty sure Devious’ project was the first time Bruce encountered hip-hop on that level and as you might know I am pretty fussy [about] who I work with creatively (especially hip-hop projects). In fact, the actual music for Devious’ tracks were all completed when we arrived at the studio. … So NO, Bruce did not co-produce anything with me. He owned Mighty Music and was the sound engineer. It is unfortunate that he should even claim co-producer status in light of this tragedy. I am disappointed.” Stehr also disputes Williams’ co-production claim.

Stehr states that Williams’ figure of R28,124.80 would be fair if there were 16 tracks at a rate of “R1,000 something” per track. However, the e-mail correspondence between van Rooy and Williams as well as two 1999 Mighty Music Productions cc invoices (addressed to Ghetto Ruff) indicate that there are 10 tracks. In a fax cover letter to van Rooy, Williams writes that Mighty Music Productions cc “no longer exists” and that she should pay him directly. Mighty Music Productions cc is not to be confused with Mighty Music Africa (Pty) Ltd, which, according to the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO), is in existence. It would appear that Williams is recovering debt for a company that does not exist.

Ariefdien sums the situation up thus: “Is R28.000 reasonable? I would say no. The tracks were recorded years ago and Bruce is not going to do anything with it. As a good compassionate Christian I think he should lower the price. Natalie is not a major label out to con anybody. She wants Devious’ contributions to hip-hop to be shared with others. This won’t make big bucks (it is a hip-hop album with dated production) but the little made will go to her and her kids. I am making an appeal to Bruce to reconsider the terms and amount, if he is unable to find it within himself to just hand it over.”

The questions about the release of Mr. Devious’ music as well as his murder remain unresolved. If Natalie van Rooy decides to move on without the music in Williams’ possession, one does wonder whether the issue will resurface many years later as a variation of the Mbube case (which was recently settled between Disney and Solomon Linda’s family). If she does manage to raise the funds to pay Williams, questions remain about economically marginal citizens’ ability to negotiate their way in the music industry as well as their access to the public sphere and markets.