Like their colleagues in other parts of the world, most Nigerian artistes hate to miss an opportunity to make more money, even from a possible collaboration with another artiste on a new song or album. In fact, in the absence of regular shows, some artistes seem to look out for such opportunities nowadays.
Although it is no longer secret that most musicians charge large fees to feature in collabos, popular singer, Oluwatosin Ajibade, aka Mr. Eazi, counts himself out of the league of artistes who demand money from their colleagues to take part in such projects.
The singer, in an interview with our correspondent, said that no African artiste could accuse him of demanding money to engage in a collabo.
He said, “No musician in Africa can claim that he paid me for doing a song with him. It is my policy not to charge fees for collaborating with fellow artistes on the continent, but I charge a lot of money to participate in shows outside Africa.
“I have been quietly funding music videos by some artistes in Africa. I have funded about six videos in the last two years. One of the artistes that have benefitted from my sponsorship was nominated for this year’s BET Awards in the United States. He is a rapper known as Kwesi Author.”
He said that after the rapper appreciatively spoke about him on social media, he was encouraged to unveil a bigger platform to help other struggling artistes to find their feet in the music industry.
The singer, who has just released a new mix-tape titled, Life Is Eazi – Vol.2: Lagos to London, disclosed that he had also benefitted from certain people who believed in him in the past. “A friend of mine, who knew I was doing music in the university, sponsored my first music video. It was a birthday gift from him. He also funded my dance video, which cost him less than $1,000.
“Also, when I wanted to shoot my second music video, Skin tight, I didn’t have to pay a lot of money. Everything I paid for was subsidised. That video made me the star that I am today. If those people didn’t sponsor the videos, I probably would not have been discovered.”
He added that since 2016 when he came to the limelight, he had always wanted to help fellow musicians. “With my new initiative, ‘emPawa’ – I want to discover independent, emerging and talented artistes. I want to provide them with the resources and exposure to launch their own careers,” he said.
