I Didn’t Have A Happy Ending At EME – Niyola

Nigerian singer and songwriter, Eniola Akinbo popularly known as Niyola has opened up on her time at Empire Mates Entertainment (EME).

During a chat with Chude Jideonwo, Niyola reflected on the bitter sweet experience she had at the record label which was managed by Banky W.

Sharing the lessons and how the business strategy of the defunct record label affected her, Niyola said:

“When a female artiste wants to do music, the first thing any man will think of as a businessman is being sexy. I’m sexy, I’m smart, I love God, but it is also important to find a person or people who understand that.

“I think that to be fair on the label, a lot of times, they just didn’t see it, they are businessman and did things as far their knowledge carried them…I should have been marketed as who I was and not just as a girl that is pretty and that can sing.

“Leaving EME wasn’t a happy event. It was not happy in the sense that when you invest time, your blood and all into something, you want to see it do what it’s expected to do.

“It was a great time being in EME, I’m not going to lie but I want to believe that it served its purpose. I was saying to someone yesterday that, not everybody is meant to, in the Nigerian term ‘blow’

“If you’re supposed to appeal to a hundred people, if your circle of influence is within 10 people, you will not exceed that, but if your influence is supposed to impact these 10 people, then that’s what you should focus on. It’s not everybody that’s meant to appeal to everybody. And so, I feel like being on EME helped me to realize that.”

Niyola is already exploring another career path in acting as she starred in Kunle Afolayan’s recent movie “Swallow”.

David Titiloye