“I Wanted Freedom To Dictate My Music” – Skales On Starting Record Label

Nigerian singer Skales has revealed the inspiration behind founding his record label, OHK Music Entertainment.

Born Raoul John Njeng-Njeng, the singer launched the label in 2014, the same year he dropped his debut studio album Man of the Year.

In a recent interview with HipTV shared on YouTube on Sunday, Skales explained that OHK Music was created from his desire for creative independence following his stint 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 revealed that Baddest Boy, a major hit from the E.M.E collective, was leaked on the exact 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 further noted that founding OHK Music allowed him the freedom to venture beyond rap, a genre he had initially been confined to.

“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 came into the spotlight in 2008 when he emerged winner of the North Central region in the Zain Tru Search contest.

In 2009, he became part of E.M.E alongside Wizkid and Niyola, but later exited the label to forge his solo career.

Watch him speak below…