Foremost Nigerian folk and roots music icon, Segun Akinlolu—popularly known as Beautiful Nubia—has publicly accused Golden Penny, a leading Nigerian food brand owned by Flour Mills Nigeria, of alleged copyright infringement after the unauthorised use of his hit track Seven Life in a promotional video.
Renowned for his timeless sound and a loyal following across generations, Beautiful Nubia is celebrated both locally and internationally for songs like Ikoko Akufo, What A Feeling, and Seven Life. Not one to chase trends or clout, his fans were surprised when he took to social media on Thursday, June 26, 2025, to call out Golden Penny Swallow (@gpennyswallow) for using his music in an advert for their Semovita product—without permission.
“Dear @gpennyswallow, the use of our music in this video is unauthorised, unlicensed and runs contrary to local and international copyright laws,” he wrote in a post quoting the video.
Dear @gpennyswallow, the use of our music in this video is unauthorized, unlicensed and runs contrary to local and international copyright laws. We have sent emails and made calls to your office about this but have received no reply, and that’s why we are resorting to this. https://t.co/1s1mUwrKVh
— Beautiful Nubia (@Beautiful_Nubia) June 26, 2025
However, Beautiful Nubia said his team made several attempts to contact the brand before going public. “We have sent emails and made calls to your office about this, but have received no reply, and that’s why we are resorting to this,” he added.
As of the time of filing this report, Metro Punch can confirm that the video has attracted at least 44.3k views since it was posted to the platform on December 21, 2024.
Golden Penny Semovita makes every meal and every moment perfect 🤩.
This is why it would always be My Soup’s First Choice.
#MySoupsFirstChoice#GoldenPennySemovita #GPennnySwallow #GoldenPenny #Semovita #Soup pic.twitter.com/FVi9rjW7EU
— Golden Penny Swallow (@gpennyswallow) December 21, 2024
In response, the company, via its main Golden Penny Foods account (@GPennyFoods), which is linked to the company’s official website, denied direct involvement. The brand attributed the video to a third-party content creator:
“Dear @Beautiful_Nubia, thank you for bringing this to our attention. The video in question was created by an external influencer as part of a content partnership, and the music was not selected or added by our internal team. However, we take copyright concerns seriously and are currently reviewing this matter. We’ll reach out to resolve this appropriately.”
Although @GPennySwallow and @GPennyFoods have different follower counts and activity timelines, both accounts list the same official email and website address, making it hard to completely disassociate one from the other.
Notably, the video posted in 2024 included no clear attribution to an external influencer, apart from an editor’s name in the end credit. Attempts to contact the credited editor have not been successful.
Several calls placed to Golden Penny were unanswered. Our correspondent awaits the response of an email sent to their listed contact address.
Meanwhile, fans of Beautiful Nubia have rallied behind the singer, calling for legal redress.
One user @diipodipe flayed Golden Penny for their response, describing it as arrogant. “I don’t want to believe your organisation doesn’t have a legal department providing you with the necessary legal advice. Your response seems to show ignorance of your vicarious liabilities,” he said.
You should have considered this statement carefully before posting. A content you published and used as advertorial material without any caveat exonerating you as to lacking the right to the music or that the content was coming from an uncommissioned producer.
There is no way… pic.twitter.com/rq57oScekc— Prince de Lagos💡 (@TheKayodeBadmus) June 27, 2025
talk about absolute stupidity. this one is the height of it and everyone at Gpenny who thought this was the appropriate response deserve to be fired
— ᴢɪɪ (@beingeazii) June 27, 2025
