“Collaboration for us is like having a stake in other people’s business on a level whereby after 10 years or after a particular time, as much as we’re growing our own business, these people are growing theirs and there will be value to these things”

In today’s music climate, strategy is becoming just as key as the quality of music that is being churned out. While there is an argument to be made if this reality makes music more of a business than art, there are cases of artistes who have found the right balance – one of them is BNXN fka Buju. 

Earlier this week, the 2022 Next Rated Winner became only the fourth artiste overall to have a No. 1 song in three different calendar years; joining Davido, Burna Boy, and Ayra Starr as the only artistes to achieve this impressive feat when “Gwagwalada” rose the summit of the Official Nigeria Top 100 (Kizz Daniel also became the fifth artiste to achieve this feat). 

“Gwagwalada” is BNXN’s first No. 1 entry as a lead artiste; his previous two No. 1 singles have come as a featured act on Ladipoe’s “Feeling” and Pheelz’s “Finesse.” Additionally, the blockbuster collaboration secured the biggest streaming tally by any single in a week this year; its 4.47 million on-demand streams surpassed the 3.87 million streams of Asake’s “Yoga.”

These exploits have earned Abifade “Bayarn” Tomide the title of Executive of the Week. As BNXN fka Buju’s manager, he delves into their collaboration strategy, his corporate background, working with BNXN, and more.

TTC: How long have you been working in music? 

Bayarn: I’ve been about music and things related to music for about 14 years. I was in and out of the music scene. After finishing university, I worked in different capacities ranging from finance, to quality control, and admin. I spanned between being an artist and not one because of the challenges that come with blowing up as an artist and excelling as one. Also, the constant need to make my parent proud due to their beliefs about corporate organizations and schemed education

TTC: How did you get into music management and what led you into starting your own company?

Bayarn: I’ve always had the plan to own my own company. I stopped paying attention to creating music in 2011 because it was so difficult for me. After all,  I was using a 9-5 job to fund my music career. I did a lot of things; grafted in spaces that accommodated me from Coded Tunez to Hypertek and more. I also contested the Zain Thru Search during the year that Skales blew up. I was with Sarz the other day and we went down memory lane with conversations around my friend Don Boye who was with Notjustok during those days. At that time, I was done financially so I couldn’t continue so I had to focus on my job in an oil and gas firm.

Music was more than just a money making venture for me; it was my passion and it was art. Music is beautiful. A few years later, I had to find my way back and this time I had to make use of my administrative experience to forge into being an executive even though I didn’t have an idea of starting a company at the time. I combined both music and 9-5, I was creating music solutions from my 9-5 office.  I will leave work and go to Basement Gig, Industry Nite and other music events. I was up and about trying to find myself .

I’ve known BNXN for some time now. We all grew up in Gbagada. BNXN, myself and my partner, Tomiwa who runs the label side of the business TYE. I was always on SoundCloud due to my interest in discovering new talent. Then I bumped into BNXN’s music which I have always known existed but didn't pay much attention and I reached out to him. We had a conversation, it was fun, we reflected on a bunch of things and we created a working relationship in 2019. I registered my company, and our financial leverage was from my 9-5 job and individual savings from both BNXN, Tomiwa and my cousin Olumide. Since then, it's been a growing process, moving from one place to the other, doing our best to grow every day. 

TTC: Can you tell us more about how your relationship with BNXN moved from a personal one to a business one?

Bayarn: Due to school, BNXN wasn’t able to fully operate as an artiste. Until one session where he told me he wasn’t going back. We had the conversation and I told him that if he was not going back to school, we need to push this thing to a level where his parents can be proud of him and there will be no regret that he never finished school. 

We moved from that phase of trying to get his parents involved to getting a bunch of things done. It was a humble time; there were no lights, no camera, we didn’t have the BS money, and we didn’t have the support, I knew people in the industry but most importantly, if you don’t have the leverage, nobody knows you. It was a defining moment for us. We then moved to a new phase of trying to get him on the road. As I was still working, Tomiwa was the road manager. Tomiwa was always with BNXN, but the three of us called the shots. 

After work, we’d link up to discuss what’s next; what’s the next step, what are we doing, what’s the plan? – questions like that. I’ve always had an idea and I’ve always seen him to be someone who should be very big. I’m more of a music head so I’ve always been fascinated more by the unblown artist’s side, I tap into people at their very early or very new stage, stages whereby there’s no light, there’s no presence around them, because I know at that period is the most authentic period of your career as an artist. I listened to a bunch of records from BNXN during his early days and I knew there was a need to gravitate toward him and do amazing things with him. Meeting him, he was young, the energy was there, we were like brothers, and we were moving from point A to point B together. We had our struggles in the music together, we were able to finesse our way up making different decisions. Some were right, and some were wrong but at the end of the day, I think we’ve done so well.

TTC: BNXN won the Next Rated Artist at the 2022 Headies award, he finished as the No. 3 overall artiste in 2022 and now he’s having his third No. 1 song in Nigeria with “Gwagwalada.” How have you been able to manage this level of success as well as ensure that the artist keeps growing? 

Bayarn: We keep it grounded, our approach to work has always been the same, and nothing changed. Yes, fame came, and money came but we’ve always used the same approach to work and we’ve been very hardworking when it comes to what we do. We take it very seriously because we’re more creative minds and when it comes to the successes which the Headies Next Rated award is one of them, we are very happy with but we feel like there are still heights that we need to reach. There are still a whole lot of things to do and a whole lot of places to go and personality to become; nevertheless, we still keep it grounded, we still record, and we still work with our day ones. We just keep the successes to the public and people that feel like “yes, they’re up now” but when it comes to us, yes, we’re enjoying the moment, we’re enjoying all the things that come with success but trust me, we’re still moving like people that don't have any. 

We still work, for example, we’ve been in and out of the studio for the last three days with the same energy that we had in 2018, we are still about the business. There is a saying that “there’s no magic to success, hard work is the answer, if you’re deceived, deceive not yourself” and in those simple days the sky used to be the limit but these days, you have to go beyond the sky. I feel like hard work has been our core; we’ve been about the work, and we take inspiration from everything that’s happening from the good to the bad, from the neglect to embracing us, from the applauding, from the noise, from the environment most importantly because three of us are in the same headspace when it comes to success. So for us, it’s like we’ve not started, we need to be in the building on the topmost floor. Every time, one or two things, we are grateful for it but we keep it going by working and using the same approach that we’ve been using that brought us this far.

TTC: BNXN is a frequent collaborator with other artistes, how did you arrive at this strategy of collaborating with others and will it continue throughout his career?

Bayarn: Collaboration is very important in music, music is a personality-based category of activity; there’s a lot involved in you being an artist. Collaboration is like infusing a part of others into what you’re doing, so many times you want to be that artist that everybody loves but sometimes you get your spark from others or influences from others, based on their energy or whatever they rub off around you within a particular time. When it comes to collaboration in music, it’s very important because we’re trying to create something iconic.

Equity is very important when it comes to us; when it comes to collaborations, it’s like us having a stake in other people’s business on a level whereby after 10 years or after a particular time, as much as we’re growing our own business, these people are growing theirs and there will be value to these things. As they grow theirs, we have ours and we have a stake in others; for us, it’s more of a financial calculation and impact. Sometimes when we’re not dropping music, we have music with others who are spending on marketing their product while we are focusing on other parts of the music. By the time we’re ready to drop music, we are still good because of those existing collaborations. It’s like when you’re not in the class and you have someone else representing you; then when you’re back to the class, you are good to go. For us, the approach to it is more of productivity, more of increasing the stake when it comes to the business. To be honest, I don’t think that is going to stop.

TTC: BNXN remains an independent artiste and this would typically come with some challenges. What are some of the challenges you’ve had to face and overcome in the last couple of years? 

Bayarn: I think for most people that work in this precise space, it is always financials but on our side, I don’t think financial is one of our problems, there’s a whole bunch of problems that come as a result of you trying to do things yourself. When it comes to us, we are more creative, some of our challenges are more creative challenges whereby we need space to create an idea the way we want it or we need to be somewhere at a particular time whereby we don’t have those accesses yet. 

There’s been a whole bunch of issues and challenges but none that is greater than what we’ve been able to overcome because I feel like with every job or any genre of activity or any type of specification, there are problems and issues. But when it comes to the management part of this whole business, the constant need to drop music is a constant challenge. There are other challenges such as touring but each year we’ve been able to figure out simpler ways of getting around it; touring, logistics, and a bunch of activities to do in a short time. But when it comes to the work itself, I can’t say there’s something really that we’ve not been able to work around in its form because problems are there any day to be solved, some in some way we just go around it and create an immediate solution to keep things going.

TTC: How did the song “Gwagwalada” come about? 

Bayarn: BNXN reached out to Kizz Daniel to have him as part of the record. It was Kizz [Daniel] that wanted Seyi Vibez on the record, so he reached out to Seyi and his team and they made it happen. “Gwagwalada” is a fantastic record because everyone involved in it delivered. They gelled perfectly which gives it a natural feeling. It is such a great record and it’s easy to see why it is already breaking so many records – I mean it is No. 1 already.   

TTC: What are some of the immediate plans for your company? 

Bayarn: To become a 360 Boutique company that creates solutions in the music business and offers administrative assistance to creatives. Presently I am still building; shout out to Bizzle Osikoya, he gave me all the emails I need to become my amazing friend and introduced me to people I need on the ground in Nigeria. All I can say is ORB is coming. In fact, it’s here