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Roy Temitope, is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Divine Records International, a new record label in Nigeria, which emerges out of passion to see that artistes get the best in terms of management, promotion and contracts for their career advancement. In an interview with DAVID OLOKE, the music mogul speaks about his career and boast to take the music business in Nigeria to the next level.
Tell us about yourself and what you do.
Basically, I am a music producer and sound engineer, with my own recording studio and a record label called Divine Records International. I also do music promotion and video as well. In a nutshell, anything music and entertainment.
For over 20 years now, I’ve been producing, recording and managing lots of artistes both here in Nigeria and other African countries. How long have you been into the music industry?
What are your experiences in the music industry?
Yes, I do have fantastic experience in the industry, because the music industry is fun and interesting. Sometimes, when you keep getting what you hope for. I have done good production for different musicians with great hits, both locally and internationally. Music stars like R2B, Shata Aale, Becca, Samini, 2face and lots of them. They have all gone international as I speak to you now, you can testify to that yourself.
What motivated you into owning your own label?
I used to be a musical artiste at the beginning of my career, way back in the north. I started from Kano State precisely in the early 90’s. So I moved from Kano to Abuja and from Abuja to Lagos. While in Lagos, I was signed to an international record label in Ghana where I dropped some singles. Seeing that the label is not meeting up to my demands due to some reasons best known to them, I now decide to go into music production because I really want to know more about sounds. So that was how I switched from being a musical artiste to a music producer and from there establish my own record label.
Why the switch from being a musician to producer?
I love singing and also good sound, so personally I want my sound to be different. I have to start by doing it myself. So I developed love for production and sound engineering, but I still do music notwithstanding.
Why did you decide to return to Nigeria?
I decided to come back to Nigeria, because I believe I need to give back to my society and most especially the up and coming artistes. Also looking back, I need to give back to my root because I understand how things work here.
What is the difference between Nigeria and Ghana music?
Nigeria is the giant of Africa; Nigerian music videos and sound are still the best compared to Ghana, because in Ghana, most musicians don’t have the kind of money to throw on music promotion like the Nigerian artiste. But the difference is not really much because we all are African people and music is a universal language. But Nigeria has the crowd and publicity compared to Ghana.
What are your experiences working with Nigerian artistes?
The style of music in Nigeria is a bit different ranging from their style of vocal, sound and music; the production is not the same. In Nigeria, artistes work more on rhythm and feels, but in Ghana, artistes work more with kick beats and baselines. Nigerian artistes are very talented, so you don’t stress yourself out working for a long time.
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