I give artistes platform to explore their talents and explode. -Steve Babaeko

 

Babaeko

He owns a record label, X3M (Extreme) Music.  Steve Babaeko worked as a top notch in some advertising agencies before he set up his own agency X3M (Extreme) Ideas. In this chat with ADA DIKE, he reveals why he is jack of all trade and master of all.

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He left home at 16 and set out to face the world, since then, he has been surviving on his own despite all odds. Today, Steve Babaeko is one of the successful advertising gurus and record label owners in Nigeria.

He is also a writer, consumer behaviour analyst, brand development expert and motivational speaker. Babaeko nurtures youths to be self-reliant that is why individuals and groups always invite him to speak to young Nigerians at many seminars and workshops.

While working in a structured environment, he discovered that he had ears for music, so he decided to set up his record label, X3M (Extreme) Music as a way of encouraging young people who have dreams and ambitions and who are not able to realise it.

He nurtures talents and makes sure that they are successful. “We took an artiste like Etcetera about seven years ago when people knew nothing about him, but today, we made him like a national icon that people recognize and reckon with.The motivation is to be able to encourage myself first and foremost, encourage young people and encourage other people to be able to find their voices,” said Babaeko.

His record label promoted and connected Ade Bantu, an artiste in diaspora to Nigerians. X3M (Extreme) Music had a contract with Nneka Egbuna so she left at the expiration of that contract.

Presently, Praiz Adejo, a Nigerian Rhythm and Blues singer and MTN project fame second runner up in 2009, is still under his record label.

Babaeko believes that, “Music is kind of a social responsibility to me because I give the artistes a platform to explore their talents and explode.”

Sometimes, immediately a song is released, pirates would deprive the owner his harvest. He explains: “It is still the same problem that we cope with. Everyday, you have to find creative ways of being able to sustain the business.We found out that you can do online distribution. You can go to online portals and put your music there for people to be able to download and pay for it, so you have to look for new and genuine ways. Some artistes have now found a way of doing other things. They are creating clothing lines so, that is the beauty of living in this generation. You have to look for continuous ways to make money and keep the business,” he said.

Many producers and promoters have parted ways with artistes signed on their labels, but he is of the opinion that the business of music is highly transparent. “I mean, you know how much you spend to produce, how much the Alaba people are going to take from you so cheating does not really arise if you look at it. These days, I hardly discuss about my record label. Globally, there will always be disagreement between parties but the most important issue is the kind of contract they have,” he explained.

What if you can’t meet up? He was asked: “You need to be able to sign the contract if you are a responsible organization. You need to keep to the terms of the contract, that’s why artistes should read their contracts before signing.There should be an ending clause that says if you as the promoter of the business is not catering well to certain clauses of the contract, there should be an exit clause that would be able to permit the artiste to take a walk. People just need to be more educated and be more informed,” he emphasised.

He was formerly the Business and Creative Director of an advertising agency called 141 Worldwide, one of the biggest advertising agencies in Nigeria with branches in many countries. While at 141, his team worked on several campaigns for brands including Etisalat, British American Tobacco, Tom Tom, First Bank and Multichoice.

Before he joined 141, he worked with Prima Garnet Ogilvy for five years and close to 20 years at MC&A Saatchi & Saatchi. He shocked the world when he left 141 Worldwide to start his own advertising agency X3M (Extreme) Ideas.
The associate member of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), says “X3M Ideas is a new advertising agency which is pushing the frontiers of advertising in Nigeria. We started our operation on August 1, 2012. I joined the group when I was 29 and left at 41 years of age. Right now, we have about 26 staff. We have made tremendous success within the few years we started, though presently, we are using the profit we have made to pay back loans we started the agency with. It is a growing concern and its future looks very bright.”

To him, “It’s still about information, it’s about knowledge, it’s about power and being able to empower yourself, get your priorities straight.When you are doing advertising, focus on it, get people to help you work on your music and still keep that one going without having conflict of interest in any way possible.”

Babaeko gets his inspiration from his environment and people. Above all, ‘Creativity is a divine gift.’

A peep into his background revealed that he was born on June 1, 1971 in Kaduna, where he spent most of his growing up years. He attended The Federal School of Arts and Science, Suleja, Niger State. From there, he proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he studied Drama.

He did his one-year compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Kano before he moved to Lagos where his career begun.

Babaeko urged the youth to take destiny into their hands because, “You are on your own in this country, nobody is going to do anything for you. In the famous word of one of the past American presidents, ”Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country,” and it becomes even truer in this generation. In this time that we live in youths must stand up and look into themselves and discover that real challenge that would be able to help them move forward without waiting for anybody.”

He further advised the youth on entrepreneurship and aired his view on people trying to make ends meet through employment alone without getting jobs. “Definitely, I think there are so many young people who came out to show us that just being in paid employment alone is not going to solve the problem of unemployment. If mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed should go to the mountain.If we have a situation in our country where 160 million people and government is not able to cater for people, we are not going to roll over and die as young people, we need to take over the gauntlet and take our destiny into our hands and begin to think of positive ways of earning a living without going into crime or some unsavoury ways that some other people might want to consider. Always look inward and keep pushing. You may face disappointment but devise a means to overcome and endure till the end of the journey,” he said.