Why 960 Music Is Suing to Void the Multi-Million Dollar Sale of Burna Boy’s Catalogue

Burna Boy’s early catalogue is now at the centre of a legal battle that could determine who truly owns some of the most important songs of his career.

On February 9, 2026, 960 Music Group filed a lawsuit seeking to void the sale of Burna Boy’s early masters from Aristokrat Music to his current label, Spaceship Music. The company argues that the deal, completed in mid-2024, was carried out without its consent and should be declared null and void.

At issue are songs that defined Burna Boy’s rise, including "Like to Party" and "Tonight", now caught in what one party describes as a breakdown of corporate governance.

Aristokrat Music, the label that signed Burna Boy in 2011, allegedly sold the intellectual property and master recordings from his early years to Spaceship Music, the imprint run by the singer and his mother, Bose Ogulu, in May or June 2024.

However, 960 Music Group, which owns a 40 per cent equity stake in Aristokrat, says it was sidelined entirely.

According to court filings, the company claims the transaction was completed without its knowledge, consent, or the approval of Aristokrat’s board. 960 Music describes the catalogue as the label’s “crown jewel asset” and argues that no single executive had the authority to sell it unilaterally.

The company has asked a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt to declare the sale invalid and order that the assets be returned.

At the centre of the dispute is the ownership structure. 960 Music maintains that as a significant shareholder, any sale of Aristokrat’s most valuable assets requires board-level approval. The firm alleges that Piriye Isokrari, founder and CEO of Aristokrat Records, bypassed corporate processes to strike what it calls a “private deal” with Spaceship Music.

In its filings, 960 Music argues that while Isokrari had managerial authority, he did not have the power to dispose of assets that materially affected the company without shareholder consent.

The case has moved beyond a commercial disagreement. The Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) has filed criminal charges against Isokrari following an investigation into allegations raised by 960 Music. He is accused of fraudulent conversion and breach of fiduciary duty.

According to investigators, proceeds from the multi-million-dollar sale were allegedly diverted for personal use or routed outside Aristokrat’s official company accounts. 960 Music claims the funds never reached the business, further strengthening its argument that the transaction was improperly handled.

Sourced from Channels TV, an unnamed executive at the company said that involving law enforcement became unavoidable.

“You cannot sell 100 per cent of an asset when you only have the authority to manage the company,” the executive said. “We are asking the court to bring those assets back.”

Isokrari has not publicly responded to the charges at the time of writing.

For Burna Boy, the dispute presents a complicated outcome. The 2024 deal was widely understood as a move to give the Grammy-winning artist full ownership of his early masters, a goal many global stars actively pursue. However, if the courts side with 960 Music, Spaceship Music could be forced to relinquish the catalogue.

That would mean Burna Boy’s breakout hits returning to the original partners behind Aristokrat, undoing the very ownership shift the deal was meant to achieve.

For now, the catalogue remains in legal limbo, with civil cases ongoing in Lagos and Port Harcourt alongside criminal proceedings. The final ruling will determine whether Burna Boy retains control of his early work or loses it to a dispute rooted in corporate process.

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