Atasaone A.T.I Molemogi leaves behind a catalogue of unreleased songs, a true reflection of the enormity of his musical talent.
“A.T.I told me recently that he has more than 100 unreleased songs, and that he was planning to release some end of September,” said a friend, Kamogelo ‘Skemz’ Madikwe in an interview.
His producer, Moshe ‘Slim Kidd’ Kelebile also confirmed in an interview that A.T.I left behind plenty of unreleased material although, could not confirm the exact number.
Slim Kidd, who worked with A.T.I on his Mankalankaleng project, said A.T.I’s unreleased work was with other producers that he had worked with.
But what happens to an artiste’s unreleased material, one might ask?
In some instances, some of it gets leaked, some released officially by the artiste’s estate to monetise and or hold on to the work and also make money out of the collaborations.
“An estate is befitting for such a giant to manage all his copyright and intellectual property assets,” said creative, Seabelo Modibe, who described A.T.I as a brilliant songwriter and composer.
Entertainment lawyer from Mdakane Attorneys Inc, Bongani Mdakane further explained that the release process of A.T.I’s, unreleased music would depend on who owned it.
Mdakane said if A.T.I owned his music, his family had the right to the music.
“If he does not own his music, his family does not have to consent to anything, the music can still be released,” said Mdakane.
Regarding collaborations on the unreleased work, Mdakane, who has more than 15 years practicing as an entertainment lawyer and other fields of law said, the estate and whoever owned the music could ensure that the distributors paid A.T.I’s collaborators on his behalf.  ENDS