Singer and entrepreneur, Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi, on Monday disclosed the reasons behind rejecting recording deals from Nigerian rapper and YBNL Nation CEO, Olamide, and Abou “Bu” Thiam, the executive vice president of Columbia Records and younger brother of American singer Akon.
In an insightful episode of the Afrobeats Intelligence Podcast hosted by Joey Akan, Mr Eazi shared that both Olamide and Bu Thiam separately approached him with recording deals when he was still navigating the early stages of his music career. However, he declined these offers as he hadn’t fully grasped his musical direction and sought to maintain his artistic “freedom.”
Reflecting on the past, Mr Eazi recounted, “When Olamide gave me a deal, I knew that I hadn’t totally understood the business or what I was even doing, so I declined. Everything was just happening so fast. One thing I knew was that I wanted my freedom.”
Intriguingly, Mr Eazi also revealed that Jay-Z’s record label, ROC Nation, expressed interest in signing his hit song ‘Skin Tight.’ However, he chose not to proceed with the deal after receiving advice from Wizkid, who suggested doing so only if the offer presented “life-changing money.” Mr Eazi explained, “To me because of where I thought I was going, I didn’t think it was life-changing money. So, I didn’t accept the deal.”
