Why I Don’t Run YBNL Like a Business Venture -Olamide

Popular rapper, Olamide has revealed that he doesn’t run his independent record label, Yahoo Boy No Laptop (YBNL), like a business venture because music is all about passion for him.

In an interview with music journalist, Ayomide Tayo, the music executive explained that cashing in from the record label is secondary to him, and making talents known is primary.

He said, “It’s all about passion. When you are genuinely passionate about something, you will always find a way to make it work. It is not business for me. It started out as something I loved, and I would do anything for and go any length for. Money coming in and all that is just secondary, but the primary thing is I am passionate about music.

“When you listen to others and feel like, “This guy is better than me,” in his own unique way, I would like to work with this person and let the world hear this person. It takes someone that is selfless, that is not insecure, that has confidence. If you feel like the world deserves to hear this sound, then they deserve to hear that person. It is like having a dope playlist, and you don’t want to share it with your friends. That’s selfish. I can’t discover guys that I know their sounds are beautiful and not try in my own little way to get them out there. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

In the course of the interview, Olamide also spoke about Carpe Diem, his newly-released 10th studio album.

Describing his experience working with new artistes like –Omah Lay, Bella Shmurda, amongst others, he explained: “I learned a lot working with these guys. It was a life-changing experience for me. At first, I was doing everything on my own. I recorded the whole album already. I think the only feature I had on the album earlier was Bella Shmurda. Everything changed when I heard P Prime’s beat. I went crazy, and I scrapped the album and started all over again. I recorded everything again, like 90% of the project. If you notice, you will see that P Prime produced almost all the songs.

“I called the likes of Omah Lay and Fireboy to jump on it as well. Fortunately, while recording the project, I and Peruzzi had been in conversations for a while about working. It was a fantastic experience for me. The way these guys are on is crazy. I don’t think there has ever been a time like this in the music industry.”