Daily Independent (Lagos)
1 November 2008
interview
Ayo Animashaun of Smooth Promotions Limited is a busy man who has the time for only work and family. While he was growing up he had a dream, believed in it and worked hard to achieve it. Today, this father of two, who hates to make his private life public, is a force to reckon with in entertainment journalism. He told Anthonia Soyingbe how he started his Hip Hop World Magazine by mortgaging his sound recorder for N1,000 in 1990 and hawked his publication. You are a big fish in entertainment journalism.
Tell us how it all started?
I have always been passionate about music. When I was 17, I decided I would not work for anybody. This is because I wanted to see what I could do with myself after I read a book and discovered that whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve.
What is the title of the book?
The book is titled Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. From that moment I decided I was going to be on my own. Ever since then it has not been so easy but the grace of God has always been sufficient for me. I have paid a price because life itself is like a jungle, you make a mistake you learn from it. You will be so lucky if you don't make the same mistake over and over again. I developed myself because I love music. I am doing what I am doing now because I have passion for it. If you love what you are doing even if you are not being paid for it then you will definitely succeed. When people sometimes tell me that I am a workaholic I tell them I enjoy what I am doing and so I am catching fun doing it.
At what point did you discover you have passion for music?
I grew up in and around music. I enjoy listening to music. I knew I would not be an artiste but I knew I would do something with music. I was just having fun until I stumbled on the business. I used to write lyrics for some of my friends and when I started doing that I decided to put it in a package (book). After a while I started selling the publication.
Those people you were writing lyrics for back then, are they still in the industry?
A lot of people left the industry and a lot of people were not patient enough for the industry to grow. When we got into the industry, it was not as rosy as it is these days. Those who were in the industry then will attest to it that it was tough; you had to be passionate enough to be in music in Nigeria then. I had a lot of friends when I began to publish who are professionals in other fields of endeavor that were not so happy with what I was doing because music then won't pay your bills. Not too many people would go into what will not pay their bills.
It must be paying your bills now.
I thank God that I am able to cater for my family.
What brand of music do you love to listen to?
I listen to every kind of music but I have flair for hip-hop, I listen to R'n'B. I grew up to love different kinds of music, I love Michael Jackson and Fela's music. My dad used to play Fela's 'Gentleman,' 'Yellow Fever' and some of his records whenever he was driving me to school.
Was your father also a music lover?
My father loved music.
His love for music must have influenced you?
Apart from the fact that he played and danced to music whenever I was around him, nothing more about him influenced me to love music. I just love music.
Going by what you have said so far, it would seem your parents were against your ambition then. How did you manage to get their approval?
Not even did they want me to publish then because their desire was for me to do something else.
They sent me to school and all I wanted to do was to publish songs. But there was no publication like that when I started so I forged ahead. It was a very big challenge when I started. My parents felt I was a brilliant kid who had the potential to excel only if I can do something else, so they initially felt bad when I decided to go into what I am presently doing.
You have not told us how you managed to get their consent for the publication.
I didn't convince anybody I only did what they wanted me to do. They wanted me to go to School, which I did. I didn't look for a job because I thought I could draw my own business from what I love doing. It was just a start and people wondered where I would get money to start my own business if I didn't get a job. But I knew that with determination and hard work I would surely succeed. When I was starting everything around me meant something for me. I used to have a deck (cassette recorder), which I mortgaged for N1,000. I added to that the N300 I had in my hand before I came out with Hip-hop World magazine in 1990. I published 300 copies and I got myself a wheelbarrow, which I used, in hawking.
There was a trade fair in Kaduna State then I got a bell, spread my books on the floor and I was calling people to come and buy at a reduced price of N6 instead of the normal price of N10 that I used to sell then. My classmates all laughed at me but I was not moved because I knew what I wanted out of life and I knew where I was going. I was determined to be the best in whatever I chose to do.
Were you not discouraged that your friends laughed at you?
I am from an average home; I saw everything that was good from my house before I saw it somewhere else. When my dad died I was 18 and he gave each of us an estate. He told me before he died that my destiny was in my hands and that I was the architect of my own future. He also told me that he didn't inherit anything from his parents that it was hard work that made him.
I don't look at people's reaction in whatever I do; if I have a meeting and there is traffic jam, I will get down from my car, take a motorcycle and move to wherever I am going. Those days, after appearing on Morning Ride on NTA Channel 5 by 8 a.m. I would be in Oshodi with copies of my publication on my head soon afterward. I was determined to succeed; determination and hard work made me. I was not listening to people because it was not about them neither was it about me but it is about who I wanted to be and achieve. If I failed it was up to me and if I succeeded it was up to me but I chose to succeed.
Why didn't you look for a sponsor to make things easier for you?
I didn't have experience. In any case, a lot of people don't know how sponsorship works. The people sitting behind brands have people they report to so they can't afford to make a mistake with the brands they control.
I didn't expect anybody to come and invest in me because I didn't understand the industry. I had not done anything tangible in the industry before then so I didn't expect any reasonable brand to invest in me even if I begged from morning to night. When you give a novice money what will he do with it? Brands only invest in people who are brand's themselves and you can't be a brand if you don't have pedigree. Nobody wants to take a risk so I didn't even expect any brand to invest in me. Besides, nobody will identity with you when you are starting especially when there is no sign that you will succeed.
Do you have any prior knowledge in journalism?
No, I studied Business Administration.
What effect do you think your course of study has on your business success?
Some of the most successful people on earth didn't study business administration rather, they are people who have business acumen; they are people who are consistent and believe in what they are doing. I learnt how to do business by rising when you fall. My course of study prepared me but the greatest preparation is combining the practical and the theoretical aspects. I was in school when I started and I read a lot of books that said successful people do what they want to do not minding what happens to them when they are doing it.
How rosy has it been since you commenced?
It has never been rosy and it is not rosy now. I thank God for His grace. It is easier to get to the top but to there is a different challenge. This is because people are watching you, they want to perform better than you so it is quite challenging when you are on top. I don't fold my arms and tell my staff to do everything; I work myself because I believe a leader should lead by example. I am a workaholic and I don't have much time to play.
Sometime ago you had a break in publishing your magazine. Why was this?
There had to be a break because this publication demands a lot. I was publishing abroad and it is capital intensive. I could have settled for less quality but I didn't do that because we have a name to protect. There are many magazines that came into existence before then, they are all gone now. Our magazine would have gone too but we have a focus and we can't afford to fail.
I believe that when you fall, if you can stand on your feet again, you will surely get there anyone that doesn't standup when he fails, that person automatically is a failure.
You are young; don't you think you will soon get bored with what you do?
I will continue this job as long as I enjoy doing it. It is not just about working but it is all about contributing our own quota to the development of the industry. We were there when Daddy Showkey started his thing, we were there when a lot of artistes who are no longer in the industry started and we were there when The Remedies started and when they broke up. We will be here as long as we can contribute to the development of the entertainment industry. We will be around to correct some abnormalities in the industry. A lot of people are organising awards now, which is good for the industry but people out there know what is good for the industry. People out there know those who are rewarding talents and those who are faking awards.
In what ways have you contributed to the development of the entertainment industry?
I don't need to blow my trumpet people will definitely blow it for me.
What, in your own view, is wrong with the entertainment industry?
A lot of things are wrong with the industry. If I start now I don't think you will leave here today. For one, a few people are benefiting from the industry while many are not adequately rewarded. Let me give you an instance; an artiste won the West Africa Idol Award and he was promised Sony LG contract but they didn't fulfill their promise and yet the artiste can't sue them for breach of contract. The media are also getting the whole essence of the industry wrong. Some of them don't even know the difference between rap and hip-hop that is why they refer to anybody that wear jeans and t-shirt as a hip-hop artiste. There are no record labels in Nigeria; promotion is not done the way it should be done. Really, there are lots of shows but it is only the same artistes that participate in all the shows. Other artiste are just there no matter how talented they are. Some are making money at the detriment of others, everybody seems to be doing the same thing thereby they forget the relevance of what the industry is all about. We are not asking questions why some certain things are not being done right but I will not want to delve into this now. I can't proffer solutions to the problems in the industry but all stakeholders in the industry should do that which they think is right.
Why did you delve into Hip TV?
After publishing for 10 years we started the Hip Hop World Award. After that we wanted to do something very different because we discovered that there are many music videos but people need to know about the artistes; they need to know the happenings in the industry. We wanted to complement what others were doing. Since we started HIP TV in July 2007, a lot of people have started that too this shows that people love what we are doing. We bring content, facts and exclusive stories to the people.
Do you still have time for yourself and your family?
Whenever I am around I am always at home with my family. I enjoy the company of my children. My work keeps my company when I am not at home.
How will you describe your leadership style?
I carry my followers along with me in whatever I do. I lead by example. The only person that will have problem working with me is that person who is not diligent. I tell people I have two families one at home and the other at work.
How will you describe your personality?
I am very friendly and accommodating.
Can you recall an occurrence you once had that left an indelible mark on you?
Everything that has happened to me in the past has positive effect on me even those things that I consider bad then now have a positive effect on me.
Are you from a polygamous home?
Yes.
How was it like growing up in a polygamous home?
I told you before we commenced this session that I won't talk about my family. My family is my private life; I don't expose my private life to the public.
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