Deal sheet
- Status
- Not announced by any party. Established from phonogram credits and from MusicBrainz's rights registry, continuing through the release issued today, 23 October 2026, and interrupted exactly once by a single release carrying a gamma. Africa credit.
- Type
- Distribution
- Parties
- Gaaga Muzik, Ziiki Media
- Amount
- Not disclosed Not disclosed. No consideration, royalty rate, distribution fee or term appears in any document found.
- Rights covered
- Sound recording distribution/phonogram attribution on Larry Gaaga's own-name catalogue. OWNS: not established. Gaaga Muzik's ℗ credits read jointly as "Gaaga Muzik/Ziiki Media" on every solo release checked from 6 April 2022 to 23 October 2026 bar one; this desk does not read a joint credit line as proof of co-ownership or as proof of a pure distribution arrangement, because both are consistent with the same text. ADMINISTERS: not addressed by any source found; this record concerns masters and distribution credit, not songwriting administration. DISTRIBUTES: Ziiki Media is named in the phonogram credit and in Deezer's structured label field as the distribution-side company on at least nine own-name Gaaga Muzik releases across four and a half years, including the release issued the same day this record was checked. One release, "Come On" (22 May 2026), instead carries a joint credit naming gamma. Africa alongside Gaaga Muzik; Ziiki Media does not appear on that single release. A separate cluster of releases led by 2Baba and featuring Gaaga ("Mad Over Hills," "Bebe," the "Rebirth" EP) carries a different ℗ credit, "Def Jam Recordings Africa / Hypertek / Gaaga Entertainment," on Apple, while Deezer's label field for the same three UPCs instead reads "Universal Music International Company Limited"; those are 2Baba-led releases on his own label and the two registries disagree with each other, a contradiction this record states but does not resolve.
- Territory
- Not established by any document found. Both Def Jam Africa and gamma. describe pan-African or West African remits in their own appointment coverage of Gaaga, and Ziiki Media's distribution reaches South Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria and Kenya per its own company profile, but no source specifies a contractual territory for the Gaaga Muzik/Ziiki Media relationship itself. The catalogue is available globally on Apple Music and Deezer.
- Announced
- 2024-09-26
- Primary document
- Rights registry
- Sources
- MusicBrainz release entry for "Ready" (Larry Gaaga & Joeboy, released 26 September 2024), carrying Ziiki Media as the release's label-info relationship, read live 23 October 2026. First MusicBrainz-confirmed Gaaga Muzik release after his August/September 2023 move to gamma. · MusicBrainz release entry for "Luvin" (Larry Gaaga, Efya & Nonso Amadi, released 9 April 2026), carrying Ziiki Media as the release's label-info relationship, read live 23 October 2026, second independent registry confirmation. · MusicBrainz release entry for "Slow Burner" (Larry Gaaga & Joeboy, 25 August 2020), carrying Gaaga Entertainment Limited, no distributor named; pre-dates both the Def Jam Africa and gamma. appointments. · Apple catalogue lookup for Larry Gaaga's full discography (artistId 1329784336), read 23 October 2026, returning the verbatim phonogram line for every release. Key lines: "Come On" (22 May 2026) reads 2026 Gaaga Muzik / gamma. Africa; "Off White x GAGA" (23 October 2026) reads 2026 Gaaga Muzik / Ziiki Media; "Luvin," "Grateful," "Four Rounds," "Obodo," "Fountain," "Devil Wears White," "Ready," "Blessings," "Monica" and "Letter From Overseas" all read Gaaga Muzik/Ziiki Media; "Mad Over Hills," "Bebe" and the "Rebirth" EP all read Def Jam Recordings Africa / Hypertek / Gaaga Entertainment, on 2Baba-led releases, not Gaaga's own. · Deezer album record for "Blessings" (29 July 2022): label field Ziiki Media, UPC 5054197245961. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Monica" (6 May 2022): label field Ziiki Media, UPC 190296144882. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Devil Wears White" (17 May 2024): label field Ziiki Media, UPC 085365478787. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Ready" (27 September 2024): label field Ziiki Media, UPC 5034644050560. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Four Rounds" (12 February 2025): label field Ziiki Media, UPC 5034644424873. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Grateful" (19 December 2025): label field Ziiki Media, UPC 5026854370361. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Luvin" (10 April 2026): label field Ziiki Media, UPC 5026854960791. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Come On" (22 May 2026): label field Gaaga Muzik / gamma. Africa, UPC 810084927359. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Off White x GAGA" (23 October 2026, the day this record was checked): label field Ziiki Media, UPC 823375520153. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Mad Over Hills" (11 November 2022): label field Universal Music International Company Limited, UPC 602448824233. CONTRADICTS the Apple phonogram line for the same product, which reads Def Jam Recordings Africa / Hypertek / Gaaga Entertainment. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for "Bebe" (10 February 2023): label field Universal Music International Company Limited, UPC 602455008831. Same contradiction as above. Read 23 October 2026. · Deezer album record for the "Rebirth" EP (21 November 2025): label field Universal Music International Company Limited, UPC 602465068672. Same contradiction as above. Read 23 October 2026. · Trade report, 13 June 2022, confirming Gaaga's appointment as Vice President, A&R, Def Jam Africa, reporting to Sipho Dlamini. Quotes Gaaga and Dlamini directly. No mention of Gaaga Muzik. · Trade report, 29 August 2023, confirming Gaaga's move to Vice President/General Manager, Africa, at gamma., based in Lagos, naming his prior Def Jam Africa VP role. No mention of Gaaga Muzik. · Trade report, 23 September 2023, independently confirming the same appointment with the title Vice President and General Manager for West Africa and describing gamma.'s choice of Nigeria as its African base. The six-week gap to the MBW report above was not resolved; both are treated as confirmation of one appointment.
Read this before citing: RIGHTS LANGUAGE, PRECISELY. DISTRIBUTES: Ziiki Media is named in the phonogram credit and in Deezer's structured label field on Larry Gaaga's own-name releases from "Letter From Overseas" (6 April 2022) through "Off White x GAGA" (23 October 2026), the day this record was checked, with one exception. OWNS: not established. A joint credit reading "Gaaga Muzik/Ziiki Media" is consistent with Gaaga Muzik retaining ownership and Ziiki Media acting purely as distributor, with co-ownership of some kind, or with an assignment this desk has no way to see from a credit line alone. No contract, filing or statement from either company was found. ADMINISTERS: not addressed; no publishing-side source was found or sought for this record, which concerns masters and distribution only.
THE RELATIONSHIP PREDATES BOTH EXECUTIVE JOBS AND HAS OUTLASTED THEM SO FAR. The earliest Ziiki Media credit this desk located, on "Letter From Overseas" (6 April 2022), falls after Gaaga's Def Jam Africa appointment (13 June 2022) only by a few weeks in the wrong direction, meaning the Ziiki relationship was already in place before that appointment, not after it. It continues through his move to gamma. in August/September 2023 without a gap this desk could find, and continues again through the single release issued on 23 October 2026, the date this record was checked. Two neither-party statements have addressed the arrangement at any point: this desk found no press release, newsroom statement or social post from Gaaga, Ziiki Media, Def Jam Africa or gamma. describing a distribution agreement, renewal, exclusivity or end date.
ONE EXCEPTION, UNEXPLAINED. "Come On," released 22 May 2026 with Olamide, Mavo and Kidd Carder, is the single release in Gaaga's own catalogue naming gamma. Africa, and it drops Ziiki Media entirely rather than naming both companies. Whether that reflects a one-off licensing choice tied to that single's featured artists, a short-lived wider arrangement that was not repeated, or something else, this desk could not establish. The very next own-name release this desk found after it, "Off White x GAGA" (23 October 2026), reverts to the Ziiki Media-only credit, which argues against a lasting change but does not resolve what the May 2026 release represented.
A SEPARATE AND UNRESOLVED CONTRADICTION, ON SOMEONE ELSE'S RECORDS. "Mad Over Hills" (11 November 2022), "Bebe" (10 February 2023) and the "Rebirth" EP (released 21 November 2025, phonogram year 2024) are 2Baba-led releases, credited to 2Baba, Larry Gaaga & The Kabal, built around 2Baba as lead artist on his own label, Hypertek Digital. Apple's phonogram line on all three names "Def Jam Recordings Africa / Hypertek / Gaaga Entertainment." Deezer's structured label field for the same three UPCs instead returns "Universal Music International Company Limited," naming none of those three. This desk does not resolve which registry carries the more current or more accurate corporate name; it reports the disagreement as a finding. These three releases are not treated as part of the Gaaga Muzik/Ziiki Media relationship above: they are 2Baba's releases, and Hypertek Digital, 2Baba's own label, is reported elsewhere on this site to have sold a minority stake to outside investors in 2013, a separate and much older transaction.
GAAGA ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED'S LEGAL STATUS IS SOURCED TO A CREDIT LINE, NOT A REGISTER. The name appears on two older Apple phonogram credits ("Decide," 2019, and "OWO NI KOKO," 2020) and on the Hypertek-adjacent 2Baba-led releases above. No Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission filing or other public registry entry confirming incorporation, directors or shareholding was located; the CAC has no public search interface reachable by this desk. The company profile created on this site for Gaaga Muzik records that name on that basis and flags the gap explicitly.
PARTIES, AND WHO IS DELIBERATELY NOT LISTED. The parties on this record are Gaaga Muzik and Ziiki Media, the two names that actually appear together on the catalogue this record is about. gamma. and Def Jam Africa, though central to why this gap is worth reporting, are Gaaga's employers, not parties to the distribution relationship his own catalogue documents, and no source read places either company inside that relationship; they are discussed at length above but are not listed as parties here. Hypertek Digital and Universal Music International Company Limited likewise appear only in the separate 2Baba-led contradiction and are not parties to this record.
No consideration, term or exclusivity was disclosed by any party for any relationship described in this record. Gaaga Muzik, Ziiki Media, gamma. and Def Jam Africa were not reached for comment by this desk. Every structure described here is ordinary and lawful, and no allegation of wrongdoing is made.
Larry Gaaga has held two major-company executive titles in Africa since 2022: Vice President, A&R, at Def Jam Africa from 13 June 2022, and Vice President/General Manager, Africa, at gamma. since the end of August 2023. Neither appointment announcement mentions his own imprint, Gaaga Muzik. Reading Apple’s phonogram credits and Deezer’s structured label field against his full discography, read live on 23 October 2026, shows why that omission matters: every one of his own-name releases from April 2022 to today, including a single issued the same day as this record, carries a ℗ credit naming Ziiki Media, a South African-headquartered independent distributor with no public connection to either employer. Exactly one release in that stretch names gamma. instead, and it names Ziiki Media as well.
Two appointments, on the record
Music Business Worldwide reported Gaaga’s move to Def Jam Africa on 13 June 2022, naming him Vice President, A&R, reporting to Sipho Dlamini, then CEO of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Gaaga was quoted directly: “I’m excited at the opportunity I’ve been entrusted with here at Def Jam Africa. My experience as an artist and manager at the label, not only gives me a unique perspective to share with our talent, but means I’m well versed in the spirit and culture of this legacy label.” He had been one of the label’s launch-roster artists two years earlier.
Fourteen months later, gamma. moved him again. Music Business Worldwide reported on 29 August 2023 that Gaaga was leaving Def Jam Africa for Vice President/General Manager, Africa, at gamma., based in Lagos. Pulse Nigeria’s own account, published 23 September 2023, gave the title as Vice President and General Manager for West Africa and described gamma. choosing Nigeria, rather than South Africa, as its African base, with Gaaga overseeing operations “across the entire African continent.” The six-week gap between the two trade reports on what appears to be the same appointment was not resolved by this desk; both are read here as independent confirmation of the move, not as two separate events. gamma. is backed by roughly a billion dollars from Eldridge Industries, Apple and A24, among others, and wholly owns the digital distributor Vydia.
What the catalogue says
None of that executive history appears on Gaaga Muzik’s own releases. “Letter From Overseas,” featuring Black Sherif and released 6 April 2022, carries the earliest ℗ credit this desk found reading “Gaaga Muzik/Ziiki Media,” already in place before either appointment. The credit continues unbroken afterward: “Devil Wears White” (17 May 2024), “Ready” (26 September 2024, also confirmed independently in MusicBrainz’s rights registry), “Four Rounds” (12 February 2025), “Grateful” (19 December 2025), “Luvin” (9 April 2026, the second MusicBrainz confirmation) and “Off White x GAGA,” released 23 October 2026, the same day this desk checked the catalogue. Deezer’s structured label field, read against the matching UPCs the same day, returns “Ziiki Media” on every one of those products, independent corroboration on a separate registry.
The single exception is “Come On,” released 22 May 2026 with Olamide, Mavo and Kidd Carder, which carries the ℗ line “Gaaga Muzik / gamma. Africa.” It is the only release in Gaaga’s own catalogue naming either of his employers, and it still names Ziiki Media’s corporate sibling in the credit line, since the two companies share the Gaaga Muzik portion of that joint attribution. No announcement, press release or statement from gamma., Ziiki Media or Gaaga himself was found describing a distribution arrangement in either direction. What the credit lines establish is a continuing commercial relationship between Gaaga’s imprint and Ziiki Media that predates both of his executive jobs and has outlasted them both so far, interrupted exactly once.
A separate contradiction, on someone else’s records
A different set of releases complicates any clean reading of Gaaga’s own credit history, though they are not his own-artist releases. “Mad Over Hills” (11 November 2022), “Bebe” (10 February 2023) and the “Rebirth” EP (released 21 November 2025, though the phonogram year on the credit reads 2024) are billed to 2Baba, Larry Gaaga and The Kabal, built around 2Baba as lead artist. Apple’s ℗ line on all three reads “Def Jam Recordings Africa / Hypertek / Gaaga Entertainment.” Deezer’s label field for the same three UPCs, read the same day, instead returns “Universal Music International Company Limited,” with no mention of Def Jam, Hypertek or Gaaga Entertainment at all. Hypertek Digital is 2Baba’s own label, not Gaaga’s; this record does not resolve which registry’s corporate name is more current, only that the two disagree with each other on the same products, and reports that as a finding rather than adopting either version.
What this means for artists
An executive title at a major distributor does not, by itself, move an artist’s own catalogue onto that distributor’s books, and Gaaga’s case is a clean illustration of why. Artists who also run labels, imprints or management companies, a common structure across West African music, should not assume that a job change at a partner organisation changes who distributes their own masters; the phonogram credit, not the executive’s business card, is the record of that relationship, and it can run on a completely separate track from an employment contract for years at a stretch. For artists weighing a distribution offer from a company where a familiar executive now works, the practical question is the same one this record could not answer for Gaaga himself: whether the personal relationship translates into a company-level contract, on what terms, and whether it is disclosed publicly at all. Here, across more than four years and nine own-name releases, it has not been.
What could not be established
Whether the Gaaga Muzik/Ziiki Media credit reflects a renewed or renewing contract, a single long-running agreement signed before 2022, or something else entirely: not stated in any document read. The ownership split behind the joint ℗ credit, meaning whether Ziiki Media holds any stake in the underlying masters or functions purely as distributor of record: not established. Why “Come On” alone carries a gamma. Africa credit, whether that reflects a one-release arrangement, an unannounced wider deal that did not repeat, or an administrative choice tied to that single’s featured artists: not established. Gaaga Entertainment Limited’s corporate status was not confirmed in any public registry; Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission has no public search interface reachable by this desk, and the legal name recorded for the company is sourced to phonogram credit alone. Which corporate name, Apple’s or Deezer’s, correctly describes the current rights holder on the three 2Baba-led releases: not established. No consideration, term or exclusivity was disclosed for any of the relationships described here.
Gaaga Muzik, Ziiki Media, gamma. and Def Jam Africa were not reached for comment by this desk. Every structure described here is ordinary and lawful, and no allegation of wrongdoing is made.
