On Tuesday, June 30, 2015, history was made in the Nigerian entertainment industry as the short, black boy from Jos, as M.I Abaga likes to call himself, was announced as the new CEO of Chocolate City Music. The announcement did not come by accident. It’s a follow up to the speech Audu Maikori made at the 3rd edition of Nigerian Entertainment Conference on April 22, 2015 that he would stop being Choc City’s CEO come June 2015. On account of his position as Vice President of the label, a position he had held for 3 years, all fingers pointed at M.I as the next CEO. Arguments abound however, among pundits and industry observers that M.I might have to deal with business meetings, administrative issues and others, all of which are bound to take their toll on his music (career). Others are of the opinion that M.I is a genius who will not find it too tough to balance the two huge commitments. The prediction that he would become the next Choc City boss came to pass on the last day of June 2015. That announcement brought to an end Audu Maikori’s decade-old stint in charge of what is now one of Africa’s biggest music labels. The lawyer has now stepped up to become the President of Chocolate City Group, comprising divisions like Chocolate City Media, Chocolate City Music and Chocolate City Distribution as well as Chocolate City Events. Super Cool Cats boss, Ice Prince was named Vice President. Like many dreams, what is today Chocolate City Music started many years ago inside the University of Jos. As president of a youth club rooted in the promotion of the arts, Audu Maikori’s dream was to build a bigger brand on the music scene after his university days. He kept at it, eventually founding the club in 2005 in partnership with Paul Ukeugo and Yahaya Maikori. Little did Audu know that a short black boy would cross his path, shake up his company positively and eventually rise to head the label. For the rapper, whose last album is titled The Chairman, it’s been a steady rise to the top, long from his days of hustling and looking for the big break. Upon taking off in 2005, the label signed talented singer and instrumentalist, Jeremiah Gyang whose viral song, ‘Na baka’ was growing daily on Nigeria’s massive population at the time. Shortly after, M.I began acting as Jeremiah’s Personal Assistant. Unknown to many, M.I decided to jettison his desire in stand up comedy when he realised he wouldn’t convince many. But while pursuing a degree in Business Administration at Calvin College in Michigan, United States, he performed regularly at the school’s major hip-hop shows and concerts. A combination of his impressive poetry, rap flow and attitude earned him a third place finish at a show tagged Hip Hopera back in 2003. Armed with his talent and gritty determination, M.I began to nurture his ambition in music and as many have opined, meeting singer and former Soundcity VJ, Djinee helped him a great deal. In 2006, he dropped his first song, ‘Crowd Mentality’ which quickly took over the whole of Jos. When he released ‘Safe’ featuring Djinee thereafter, the sheer force of his flow and rhyming ability forced the industry to notice, shattering the notion that majority of Nigerian music lovers are hostile to rap. The track became an instant hit all over the country and on December 11, 2008, M.I released his debut album, Talk About It to critical acclaim. Born on October 4, 1980, the man born as Jude Abaga has 3 studio albums including M.I – II and his latest, The Chairman and a long list of awards to his name. Bottom line – he is living his dreams and today has significant percentage of shares in the Chocolate City Group with the merger of his Loopy Records to the label he now heads. The newly restructured Chocolate City Music boasts of 14 artistes, 2 DJs and 5 producers and while it remains uncertain if he will stay in the position for a decade like Audu, the industry is excited that another individual committed to music is taking over at the high profile label. As boss at Chocolate City, the industry waits eagerly, to see how M.I will manage the super acts under him including his brother, Jesse Jagz as well as his own career....
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