Celebrated artiste manager, producer and music entrepreneur, Tochukwu Toks Young Umezulike, aka Toks Asher Young, has iterated the importance of hard work and vibrant reading culture for an artiste to excel in the music industry.
He listed these among seven major things an artiste needs to do good music. Toks expressed optimism that in the next couple of years there will be a boom leading to an influx of more labels seeking out African and Nigerian talents to sign on and showcase to the world.
“Music is my first love. I believe that for an artiste to do good music you need seven major things. These are self-belief, perseverance, hard work, humility, loyalty and last but not the least continuous self-reinvention and constant reading.
Sharing his thoughts, he notes that most Nigerian artistes do not know the difference between having a proper label and a label imprint
“These days every one forms an imprint and without even a proper registration of the label name as a limited liability company. They claim they are record label owners.
“Also being a good artiste or musician doesn’t automatically translate into a good label executive. Neither does it make you a certified A & R exec.”
Toks Asher Young is a Nigerian music and entertainment veteran. He made his career working with Storm 360/Storm Records. Storm Records is an indigenous music label that spawned artistes like Naeto C, Sasha P, General Pype, L.O.S & Yung6ix.
He is an Artiste/Talent Manager, A & R consultant and Co- Founder/Managing partner at Podium Worldwide aka Podium Vybez.
He has received several nominations in recognition of his works and has also won several awards including Nigeria Hype Awards 2018 (Artiste Manager of The Year)