Skales, the Nigerian singer, has opened up on the motivation behind establishing his record label, OHK Music Entertainment.
The singer, born Raoul John Njeng-Njeng, launched the label in 2014, the same year he released his debut studio album Man of the Year.
Speaking in a recent interview with HipTV, Skales said OHK Music was born out of a desire for creative independence after his time with Banky W’s Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E).
Back then, in 2014, when I started OHK entertainment, the reason why I started it was because I just wanted to have the freedom of dictating and making decisions on what I wanted to do, he said.
Part of the issues I had in my previous label was when you record a song and you feel like it’s the one, you have to convince so many other people before they agree.
If the board of directors don’t agree, the song will never come out. Sometimes, back then me and the rest of the crew would leak songs and say we didn’t know how the song came out.
Skales recalled how Baddest Boy, one of the biggest songs from the E.M.E. collective, was leaked the same day it was recorded.
I remember Banky called and was asking questions, but the song was everywhere already. The next thing he said was that it will be our next single, and he also dropped a verse on the song, he said.
Skales added that starting OHK Music gave him the liberty to explore beyond rap, a genre he was initially boxed into.
To the creative freedom, I could just dictate and do whatever I wanted to do. I could write the kind of music I wanted to release, and I didn’t have the situation where I was put in a box and being told all I have to do is rap, he said.
Before even being a rapper, I was a singer. But it’s just that people first heard about me in a rap song.
Being able to make my decisions, pick when I want to release a song, and choose whatever I want to do was part of the inspiration.
Skales first gained recognition in 2008 after winning the North Central region of the Zain Tru Search contest.
The following year, he joined E.M.E alongside Wizkid and Niyola, before eventually leaving to pursue a solo path.
