About 10 years ago, Piriye Isokrari better known as Peedi Picasso was mulling ways to launch his new record label, Aristokrat Records.
Fast forward to 2012, Aristokrat has now signed a relatively unknown Shorty Gunt, who we all now know as Burna Boy. Gunt was ready to release his first record on the upcoming label, a record that would on to change all their lives forever. That record was Like to Party, which stamped Burna Boy as an artiste to watch out for and the label as a force in the industry.
Peedi Picasso was interviewed for NotJustOk’s Afrobeats The Business series. In this interview, he discussed the signing of Burna Boy and having to fight off bigger names to get him.
Speaking on Like to Party, he said “We didn’t think it was going to blow. We were like let’s just do something new and fresh, something that will stand out.
Like to Party, a massive success, was Burna Boy’s first official single with Aristokrat Records. The success of the song platformed him as one of the most exciting upcoming Afrobeats artists at the time which in turn put Aristokrat on the music industry map. According to Picasso, he had to fight off both Timaya and Terry G for Burna Boy’s signature.
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He also added that during a conversation with Burna Boy’s mum and manager, Bose Ogulu, he said,
“I think I was telling her that, all these people, they’re great and they may have more than me but the thing about me versus them is this guy will be my first artist, if he fails, I fail. His failure is my failure, his success is my success”
You can read the full interview with NotJustOk here.