On June 22, 2023, these ten Nigerians were among 3700 music creators and industry professionals who achieved the enviable Grammy membership.
The recording academy membership is usually given to those who contribute significantly to Nigerian music. And popular or not, these chosen Nigerians are an invaluable part of the Nigerian music movement.
Dolapo “tGM” Amusat
tGM uses his WeTalkSound Agency, an arm of WeTalkSound (the biggest creative community in Nigeria), to provide creative strategy, marketing and promotion services to brands and artists (Reminisce, Dice Ailes, Teni, Ladipoe, Davido Music Worldwide (DMW), Aristokrats Record, EMPIRE, etc). Dolapo is also an assistant product marketing manager at Google and a multidisciplinary personality who successfully launched projects like the LOFN album collection, Insert Nights (a networking hangout for creatives and techies) and CampNova (a residential bootcamp for African creatives). tGM is a shining example for young African creatives.
Mariam Aduke Abass
Mariam worked as a pipeline engineer before she delved into fashion styling, setting up Luxe Reloaded — a talent management business, Malc Agency for brand partnership. Her companies are run by women-only staff, boasting clients like Cilla Purple, Mugler, Meta, Spotify and Joeboy. She’s one of the few women making a killing in the men-dominated industry of Nigerian music, and we celebrate her.
Fliptyce
He’s a Nigerian veteran songwriter-singer, composer and music producer behind smash hits like Chop My Money (P-Square), Kissing (Yemi Alade), Ile Ijo, So Many Tinz (May D) and Igbeyawo (Oritse Femi). While he hasn’t been active in the mainstream for a while now, we can’t say he doesn’t still deserve the honour of a Grammy membership.
Osi Suave
Osi is a Nigerian on-air personality who launched his career at Rhythm 93.7 FM Benin in 2008 before he joined The Beat 99.9 FM Lagos in 2010. He’s currently the director of programmes at The Beat 99.9 FM. During the course of his career, he has cemented his name in the Nigeria music industry, establishing important professional relationships and interviewing A-list celebrities such as Fabolous, Wale, Burna Boy, Migos, Angelique Kidjo, etc.
Titi Adesanya
Titi is a Nigerian journalist and EMPIRE Africa’s director of operations — handling its distribution, recording and publishing — with a roster that includes superstars like Kizz Daniel, Fireboy DML and Black Sherif. In February 2023, Titi was named one of Billboard’s 2023 Women in Music. Previously, she was a digital sales and product manager at AFRICORI Music Group and founder/creative director at We Soko Africa. She’s one of the women pushing Nigerian music at the frontline.
Bugo Arinze
He’s the founder of Measurable Accurate Digital Solutions (MAD Solutions), a Nigerian digital music distribution company working at the intersection of creative content and technology. With operations in Nigeria, U.S, South Africa and Canada, Bugo’s MAD Solution has been exporting, aggregating and licensing African music content to the world through digital service providers (DSPs) like Apple Music, YouTube, VEVO, iHeartRadio, Amazon, TikTok since 2017. His company has recorded more than three billion plays, providing services to artists like Ric Hassani, Asa, Simi, Reekado Banks, Okey Sokay, Protek Illasheva. He is a true afrobeats evangelist, so addition to this class comes as no surprise.
Joey Akan
A multi-award winning pop culture and music writer, journalist and podcaster, Joey has been a consultant for musicians, actors and major record labels for over three years, providing professional advice on A&R and PR strategies. Today, he’s the entertainment and culture editor for News Central TV, The Conversations Africa, and founder of Afrobeats Intelligence. With this new position, he can push Nigerian music even further to an ecosystem that aligns with Nigerian music.
Bigiano
While he hasn’t been in the Nigerian music conversation for a long time, in 2022, he broke his music hiatus with an Amapiano refix of his popular 2008 hit single, Shayo, with Jaybreeze. A year before, he launched Connect Core Magazine, aimed to be a well-packaged celebrity journal according to him. Although Bigiano only has one album to his name, Shayo remains a popular Nigerian party hit.
Deola Jayesimi
Deola is a senior label manager (West Africa) at The Orchard. With previous roles in The Zone Agency, The 400 Media Company, Noah’s Ark Communications and Boomplay, he has been able to create a niché that ties music and content creation with advertising and marketing.
Kolapo Oladapo
He’s a lawyer and business and strategic manager at Apple (Platoon) since September 2022. Before then, he worked as head of digital at several radio stations like Wazobia FM, Nigeria Info FM, Arewa Radio and Cool FM Nigeria, and as head of business development at Clout Africa. His podcast, Cold Purewater, Cold Mineral, creates conversations around relevant industry topics with the music industry’s key players. As a new member of The Recording Academy, we hope to see him extensively usher African music, tech and youth culture into the global forefront.
