Qing Madi's label war deepens as both sides claim victory in court dispute

• JTON says a Lagos court granted an injunction restricting Qing Madi's use of music tied to disputed contracts.

• KFMD argues the court affirmed the singer's right to choose her own management and release new music.

• Both sides are publicly disputing the meaning of the ruling while the main case awaits trial.

What started as a TikTok live has become a full legal and public relations battle, with two formal statements now on record and both sides telling very different stories about the same court ruling.

To recap: Qing Madi, the 19-year-old singer behind the recently released EP Barely Legal, went live on TikTok this week to address the disappearance of her music from Spotify, pointing directly at Joy Tongo and JTON Music, the label she had been signed to, as the party responsible. 

She alleged that Tongo had stolen from her, forged her signature, and systematically targeted her releases. She also claimed she had won a court case against the label, noting that because she was a minor at the time proceedings began, her mother had to appear in court alongside her.

JTON responded with a formal press release, framing the dispute strictly as a commercial and contractual matter. 

The label denied any harassment or intimidation, pushed back on the characterisation of the court outcome, and pointed to an interlocutory injunction it said the High Court of Lagos State had granted in its favour, restraining Qing Madi from releasing, performing, or commercially exploiting music produced under JTON, and from entering new deals using the brand and platform it developed, pending the full determination of the suit. 

JTON also disclosed recording and distribution agreements with Sony Music and Bu Vision, which it said remain binding.

KFMD Label, which now represents Qing Madi, issued its own counter-statement on June 5, and it reads as a direct, point-by-point dismantling of JTON's position. On the question of who initiated the case, KFMD was unambiguous: JTON filed the suit, not the artist. 

On the court ruling itself, KFMD argued that the contracts at the centre of the dispute were signed when Qing Madi was 16 years old, making them infancy contracts that the Court found voidable under the Child's Rights Law of Lagos State 2015. 

According to KFMD, the Court affirmed her right to choose her own management, release music independently, and enter new agreements outside of JTON. The injunction JTON is citing, KFMD said, is a narrow holding order covering only specific recordings tied to the repudiated contracts, not a finding in JTON's favour.

KFMD also raised serious additional allegations, including that JTON had sent copyright takedown notices to Spotify, Audiomack, and other platforms asserting claims the label does not legally hold, and that cease and desist notices had been dispatched to event organisers and promoters to prevent Qing Madi from performing, actions KFMD described as misrepresentations of the court's ruling and an attempt to manufacture a prohibition that does not exist.

Both statements are now public. The substantive case has not yet gone to trial. Barely Legal remains affected on Spotify.

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