Nigerian singer, rapper and actor, Banky W has revealed that the record label that launched Wizkid‘s music career, Empire Mates Entertainment is no longer a record label like it was as it was closed down in January 2017 after 9 years of discovering talents in the Nigeria Music Industry.
This statement was made on Instagram where the singer cum actor explained in two posts how the EME brand started in his room with Tunde Damuren, giving a history of how it came about, why and how far they have gone with discovering of talents in Nigerian music industry.
According to Mr. Capable, they came to a stop with the record label last year January for unknown reasons and restructuring has been going on even though no statement was made officially and now they are done with the restructuring and instead of the record label, they are now a full media agency dealing in PR, talent management and more revealing that the record label arm has been quietly shut down.
Some of the talents under the EME agency include family and friends such ToolzO, Adesua Wellington, Ebuka Echendu, DJ Xclusive and of course Banky W.
Read the full statement;
“Empire Mates Entertainment (EME) was started by @captdemuren & I, way back in 2001/2002 – in my dorm room at my University in NY. The reason we used the word “Empire” was because Tunde and I were crazy enough to dream that we could build a company that would eventually become an Empire.. one that would serve as the launching pad for not only my career goals in music, movies and other interests… but one that would also serve as a stepping stone for other talents to become more successful and achieve their goals as well. We started the record label part of it right there in my room, which we relocated to Lagos around Vals day 2008 – and we thank God for guiding and crowning our efforts thus far; we’ve played our little part in helping discover/boost the careers of a number of talents in the Music business (some of your favourite Artists, Producers & Engineers..) and we are forever grateful for the opportunity to live out our dreams by giving others a platform to shine as well. In January of 2017, after 9 years of being in the Nigerian Music Industry, we decided it was time to quietly close the Record Label Arm of our business. Essentially we have restructured our business.. and instead of operating just as a record label, we have expanded and changed our focus a bit… we are now a full fledged Media Agency that focuses on Creative Marketing, Advertising, PR, Brand Events/Activations AND a talent management firm. This switch in focus has been amazing and fulfilling.. behind the scenes, we have been able to impact the launching and marketing of a number of brands and companies the way we did artists.. but even in the talent management side, we are no longer restricted to working with just Music Artistes. We still work with Musicians, but we also work with OAP’s, Actors and are evaluating sports management as well. The goal was always to find talents and brands we believe in, and partner with them to help them become more successful… now we have expanded to do that for more than just the Music business. We are excited about our client portfolio: the corporate brands we rep, as well as the talents. At the moment, our clients are: @djxclusive83, @ebuka, @toolzo, @adesuaetomi, and of course yours truly Mr W. (And a few corporate brands as well) Talk to us for all things Marketing/Advertising/PR/Media/Entertainment. We shoot tvc’s and documentaries just as great as we do music videos. We launch brands and products as well as we have launched Artists. Need some help with your digital marketing? Need an ad campaign? Influencers for your next launch? Finding the right brand ambassadors for your product? We are your one stop shop for the marriage between corporate Africa and Entertainment. For a simple reference, it’s kind of like how Jay went from Rocafella to Roc Nation. Just.. same name, new targets. @theofficialeme_ is our IG page, and for booking any of our clients pls holla at us directly. Grateful for our past, and excited about our future.. this is EME. God bless you all and thanks for the support.”
