MI: Money and fame have made me more cautious about life

MI is one of Nigeria’s biggest – and probably the most successful – artistes ever in the rap genre.

He has broken boundaries of commercial success by skilfully creating a Nigerian version of hip hop with universal appeal, which has made him a wealthy individual with privileges many can only dream of.

As vice president of Chocolate City Music, MI is also a high-ranking business executive. In an exclusive talk with TheCable, MI explained how fame and money have shaped his perspective of life, and how his approach to the music business is paying off.

“Basically we were a CD-driven market before but now, we are a brand-driven market, which means that an artiste in 2015 first of all needs to ensure that their brand is competing in music space. What it means is that in my own case, if you think of rap music, you should think of MI as the best brand,” he said.

“It might be a step lower and just be thought of as a good brand, but the worst thing that could happen is for you not to be thought of at all. For you to get in that space, it is about sharing your music.

“People need to hear it and love it and you need to push it. It’s unorthodox, but by getting numbers, you get your money. So even I give my music out for free, if a million people download it, I get my money. The streams of revenue just come from there either you are performing live, which is now a big revenue stream, or you are doing endorsements. Then, there are other parts of residual income, such as the Caller Ring Back Tunes (CRBTs) and Social Media.

“So I’ll say there are four major and growing sources of income, which are live performances, endorsements, then I’ll put CRBTs under digital licencing of music generally, because there are other ways you can make money digitally. Then, finally, there is social media.”

In addition to the income streams he mentioned, there is also payments from sales of CD’s that are marketed by agents from the Alaba market. While making a presentation at the Nigerian Entertainment Conference in April MI revealed that he makes a relatively negligible amount of his revenue from sales of his CD’s which amounts to about N5million per album.

However, of all the income streams, he says he derives the larger percentage of his total income from live performances.

“I will say that endorsements will give you a bulk sum at once but over a period of time, performances generally bring in more money,” he explained while also mentioning that digital sources, such as licensing and social media, have the most potential to grow.

MI further revealed how all his fame and money has affected his personal life for better or for worse, and how he has managed to keep himself grounded.

“Change is inevitable. But the thing about being changed by money and fame is that you are so busy being distracted by everything else that you don’t even know it’s happening.

“For me money and fame have given me access and there are certain rooms I must go into alone or without many people. That’s change for me.

“Secondly, it’s made me more cautious about life. I am more watchful of people and you trust less. But you would have to ask people around me how I have changed, but I think I am one of the most balanced people you would meet because I have surrounded myself with my family and my core friends. If you meet someone around me today, you are likely going to meet the same person around me in some way years later.”