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.

Unigwe, Adichie, Shoneyin, 5 other Nigerians part of Africa39 authors

 

Adichie

Folarin

Unigwe

SHoneyin

ADA DIKE

Eight Nigerians including: Chimamanda Adichie, Tope Folarin, Lola Shoneyin, Chika Unigwe and four others have been selected as part Africa39 authors.

Africa39 authors are internationally acclaimed writers below 40 years of age who have won awards that distinguished them from others.

Daily Newswatch gathered that Africa39 will bring to worldwide attention the best work from Africa south of the Sahara and its diaspora. “The selected writers will be invited to the Port Harcourt Book Fair in October 2014 as part of the celebrations of UNESCO’s World Book Capital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, where the book will be launched.

“They are 39 writers under the age of 40 from Africa south of the Sahara, published in English throughout the world by Bloomsbury, published in conjunction with Hay Festival and Rainbow Book Club, supported by Port Harcourt World Book Capital, Royal African Society, English PEN, Arts Council England and Commonwealth Writers and events across the world throughout 2014 until 2016, including Manchester Literary Festival, Hay Festival, Norwich Writers’ Centre and the British Library,” the organisers stated.

Daily Newswatch further learnt that the judges, who selected the 39 writers from up to 200 submissions researched by Binyavanga Wainaina, founding editor of the acclaimed Nairobi-based literary magazine Kwani? were: Margaret Busby (UK/Ghana) - Publisher, broadcaster and reviewer, editor of the anthology Daughters of Africa, Elechi Amadi (Nigeria) - Author of plays, memoir and novels, including The Slave, Estrangement and The Woman of Calabar and Osonye Tess Onwueme (Nigeria/USA) - Playwright, poet and scholar.

The writers’ names were unveiled on Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 9.30am at PH UNESCO World Book Capital exhibition stand (stand number: i400), The London Book Fair, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Warwick Road, London SW5 9TA. Breakfast and introductions from Margaret Busby, one of the judges, Koko Kalango, founder of the Rainbow Book Club, Peter Florence and Cristina Fuentes from the Hay Festival, and Bill Swainson from Bloomsbury Publishing.

Below are the biographies of authors from different countries in Africa that make up Africa39 authors:

Chimamanda Ngozi ADICHIE

Born in Nigeria, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah and the story collection The Thing Around Your Neck. Translated into over thirty languages, her work has been awarded prizes including the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, the Orange Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.

Chika UNIGWE

Chika Unigwe was born in Enugu, Nigeria. She is the author of On Black Sisters Street and Night Dancer. She is the most recent winner of the Nigeria Literature Award and her work has been published extensively in journals and papers around the world including the New York Times and the UK Guardian.

Tope FOLARIN

Tope Folarin made his fiction debut in Transition with ‘Miracle’ in 2012, for which he was awarded the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2013. He is a graduate of Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he earned two Master's degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. He lives in Washington DC.

Lola SHONEYIN

Lola Shoneyin is the author of three volumes of poetry and two children's books. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, her debut novel, was long-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction and won the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award and the Ken Saro-Wiwa Prose Prize. She is the director of the Aké Arts and Book festival.

Ukamaka OLISAKWE

Ukamaka Olisakwe was raised in Kano State. Her debut novel, Eyes of a Goddess, was published in 2012. Her stories have appeared in various online journals and blogs including Saraba, Sentinel Nigeria, Short Story Day Africa and Naija Stories. She writes a weekly column for the Nigerian Telegraph.

Chibundu ONUZO

Chibundu Onuzo’s debut novel, The Spider King’s Daughter, was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize, shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Commonwealth Book Prize. She writes comment pieces for the Guardian, with a special interest in Nigeria. She currently completing a Masters in Public Policy and writing her second novel.

Abubakar Adam IBRAHIM

Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s debut story collection The Whispering Trees was long listed for the inaugural 2014 Etisalat Prize for Literature; the title story was shortlisted for the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing. A 2013 Gabriel García Márquez Fellow, he won the BBC African Performance Prize in 2007. He lives in Abuja, Nigeria where he works as an arts editor for a national newspaper.

Rotimi BABATUNDE

Rotimi Babatunde writes poems, plays and prose fiction. His story ‘Bombay’s Republic’ was awarded the 2012 Caine Prize for African Writing. His plays have been produced by the Young Vic in London, the Halcyon Theatre in Chicago, and Sweden’s Riksteatern, among others. He lives in Nigeria.

Richard ALI MUTU

Richard Ali Mutu writes in Lingala. The winner of the 2009 Mark Twain Prize, he published his first novel, Le cauchemardesque de Tabu, in 2009. He has also written poetry, monologues and theatre performance pieces.

Monica ARAC de Nyeko

Monica Arac de Nyeko is from Uganda. She was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2004 for her story ‘Strange Fruit’, going on to win the prize in 2007 for ‘Jambula Tree’.

Eileen BARBOSA

Eileen Almeida Barbosa is a Cape Verdean writer and advisor to the Prime Minister. She is the recipient of the inaugural National Pantera Revelation Prize 2005 for Short Stories and the Pantera Revelation Prize 2005 for Poetry. Her story collection, Eileenístic, was published in 2007. She is currently at work on a second collection.

Igoni BARRET

Igoni Barrett is the author of the story collection Love Is Power, or Something Like That. He is the winner of a BBC World Service short story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. He lives in Lagos.

Jackee Budesta BATANDA

Jackee Budesta Batanda is a short story writer and independent journalist. The Africa regional winner of the 2003 Commonwealth Short Story Competition, her work has been performed on the BBC World Service and appears in publications including the

New York Times, the Boston Globe and the Mail & Guardian. She is currently at work on a novel.

Recaredo BOTURU

Recaredo Silebo Boturu is a poet, playwright, actor and theatre director from Equatorial Guinea. His award-winning articles have been published in the Afro-Hispanic Review and in both Equatoguinean and Spanish publications. His collection of poetry and plays, Luz en la Noche (Light in the Night), was published in 2010.

Nana BREW-Hammond

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond is a Ghanaian-American writer living in New York. Her fiction, poetry and essays have been published by African Writing, Ebony.com, Sunday Salon and Nike, among others. Publishers Weekly hailed her novel Powder Necklace as ‘a winning debut’. Most recently, she founded the blog People Who Write.

Shadreck CHIKOTI

Shadreck Chikoti is a Malawian writer. His awards include the 2013 Peer Gynt Literary Award for his forthcoming futuristic novel, Azotus the Kingdom. He is vice president of the Malawi Writers Union and Director of Pan African Publishers Ltd.

Edwige-Renée DRO

Edwige- Renée Dro worked as a marketing assistant and community journalist in the UK before moving back to Cote d'Ivoire. Her stories have been published Prima magazine and africanwriter.com. She is currently completing work on her first novel and is the founder of Abidjan Lit, an African fiction book group.

Clifton GACHAGUA

Clifton Gachagua is the recipient of the 2013 inaugural Sillerman Prize for African Poetry. In 2013 he was longlisted for the 2013 Kwani? Manuscript Project and his debut poetry collection, The Madman at Kilifi, was published in 2014. His work has appeared in publications including Storymoja and Kwani? He is currently an editor and television scriptwriter.  

Stanley GAZEMBA

Stanley Gazemba is a journalist and the author of three novels: The Stone Hills of Maragoli, Khama and Callused Hands and eight children’s books. A recipient of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize, his articles and stories have appeared in publications including ‘A’ is for Ancestors, the Caine Prize Anthology, the East African and the New York Times.

Mehul GOHIL

Mehul Gohil was born in Nairobi, Kenya. He is the winner of the Kwani? ‘The Kenya I Live In’ short story prize in 2010. His fiction has been published in Kwani? and on several online platforms including Short Story Day Africa. His journalism has appeared in publications including the Shahan Journal and chessbase.com.

Hawa Jande GOLAKAI

Hawa Jande Golakai was born in Liberia and has lived in several African countries. Her debut novel, The Lazarus Effect, was shortlisted for the 2011 Sunday Times Fiction Prize, the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize and longlisted for the Wole Soyinka Prize. She works as a medical immunologist and is currently completing her second novel.

Shafinaaz HASSIM

Shafinaaz Hassim is a South African writer and sociologist. She is the author of the novel, SoPhia (2012) and several works of nonfiction. A social commentator and contributor to the Mail & Guardian, her work has been short-listed for the K Sello Duiker Award and the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize for Creative Writing.

Namwali SERPELL

Born in Lusaka, Namwali Serpell is an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of a book of literary criticism and her fiction has appeared in publications including Callaloo, Tin House and The Best American Short Stories 2009. She was shortlisted for the 2010 Caine Prize for African Literature and is a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award recipient.

Nii Ayikwei PARKES

Nii Ayikwei Parkes is a writer, editor and performance poet. His debut novel, Tail of the Blue Bird, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize and translated into Dutch, German, French and Japanese. He is the publisher at flipped eye publishing, one of the

most respected small presses in the UK and curator of the African Writers' Evening reading series.

Novuyo Rosa TSHUMA

Novuyo Rosa Tshuma is a Zimbabwe-born writer. Her short fiction has appeared in publications including the 2010 Caine Prize Anthology. She was awarded the 2009 Yvonne Vera Award and her debut collection was published 2013. She is currently a Maytag Fellow at the MFA Creative Writing Programme at the University of Iowa.

Mary WATSON

Mary Watson published her debut story collection, Mass, in 2001 and was the 2006 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. She is the author of the literary thriller The Cutting Room, and a contributor to several anthologies. Her work has been translated into languages including Arabic, Italian, German and Dutch.

Zukiswa WANNER

Zukiswa Wanner was born in Zambia of South African and Zimbabwean parentage. Her debut novel, The Madams, was published in 2006. She is the author of three additional novels as well as being a regular contributor to publications including the New African, the Mail & Guardian, Elle and O magazine.

Mohamed Yunnis RAFIQ

Mohamed Yunus Rafiq is a writer and independent documentary film maker. The co-author of a poetry collection, Landscapes of the Heart, he is also a member of the internationally acclaimed hip-hop group Xplastaz collective based in Tanzania and the co-founder of Aang Serian Peace Village, a youth-led cultural preservation organization

Stanley Onjezani KENANI

Stanley Onjezani Kenani was born in Malawi and currently lives in Switzerland. He has twice been shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing, in 2008 and 2012. He is the author of the story collection For Honour and Other Stories and is currently working on his first novel.

Dinaw MENGESTU

Dinaw Mengestu was born in Addis Ababa and is the award-winning author of three novels, including All Our Names, published in 2014. His journalism and fiction appears in publications including Harper’s, Granta and the New Yorker. The recipient of

numerous awards including the Guardian First Book award and a 2012 MacArthur Foundation genius grant, he currently lives in New York City.

Nadifa MOHAMED

Nadifa Mohamed was born in Hargeisa and moved to England with her family in 1986. Her first novel, Black Mamba Boy, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and was awarded the Betty Trask Prize. In 2013 she was selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. Her second novel is The Orchard of Lost Souls.

Nthikeng MOHLELE

Nthikeng Mohlele was born in 1977 and grew up in Limpopo and Tembisa township, South Africa. A graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand, he is the author of the novels The Scent of Bliss and Small Things.

Linda MUSITA

Linda Musita is a writer, editor and lawyer. She is a literary agent at Lelsleigh Inc in Nairobi and an editor at the Star newspaper. Her fiction has been published on the Storymoja publishers’ blog and the Daily Nation. A Storymoja Hay Festival 2012/13 fellow, she is currently working on her first novel.

Sifiso MZOMBE

Sifiso Mzobe was born in Durban, South Africa. His debut novel, Young Blood, was awarded the 2011 Herman Charles Bosman Award, the 2011 Sunday Times Fiction Prize, the 2011 South African Literary Award and the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. He currently works as a freelance journalist and is writing his second novel.

Glaydah NAMUKASA

Glaydah Namukasa is a midwife and writer. Currently chairperson of the Uganda Women Writers’ Association, Femrite, her awards include the Macmillan Writers Prize for Africa. Her short stories are published in anthologies in Uganda, South Africa, UK, US and Sweden. She is the author of three children’s books and is currently completing her first novel.

Kioko NDINDA

Kioko Ndinda is a Kenyan-born writer and filmmaker. Her stories have been published in Fresh Paint - Literary Vignettes by Kenyan Women, and Amka Space for Women’s Creativity and other publications including Sanaa literary magazine. A new story is forthcoming in Jalada Africa, an African writers’ collective.

ONDJAKI

Ondjaki was born in Luanda. He is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the 2008 Grande Prémio de Conto Camilo Castelo Branco awarded by the Portuguese Writers'

Association and the Prémio Jabuti. His novel Os Transparentes was awarded the Saramago Prize in 2013. He currently lives in Rio de Janeiro.

Okwiri ODUOR

Okwiri Oduor was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Her novella, The Dream Chasers was highly commended in the Commonwealth Book Prize, 2012 and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Amka and Femrite anthologies, the New Inquiry, Kwani?, Saraba magazine, and Africa Writing Online. She is a 2014 MacDowell Colony fellow.

Taiye SELASI

Taiye Selasi was born in London of Ghanaian and Nigerian parentage. Raised in Massachusetts, her debut novel, Ghana Must Go, was published to international acclaim in over 13 countries. In 2013 she was selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young British novelists. She lives in Rome and is writing her second novel.

Source: ellen.williams@bloomsbury.com

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