Earlier this year, DMW boss and Nigeria pop superstar Davido announces that he has fired his then manager Kamal Ajiboye in an unceremonial announcement on social media via Snapchat.
The industry and fans were shocked on decision of Davido to have sacked the person that single-handedly orchestrate his Sony Music deal a year ago. Here’s what Davido said that time ” Am now my manager, going back to the basic root “.
In recent interview with Sunday Scoop, Kamal has refuted the rumours that he was fired by the Fia crooner. He said:
“Davido didn’t give me the sack via social media. He was in Gabon when he wrote ‘I am now my own manager’ on Snapchat. Funnily, I was the one who drove him to the airport. Before then, we had conversations about moving forward and I realised that what he wanted was different from mine. I wanted something bigger for him, but he was comfortable with what he wanted to do.” Kamal while admitting that Davido is a big client maintained that parting ways with him had not affected his career as an artiste’s manager.
“I was prepared for it; I was the one who left voluntarily. It was something I thought about for a while. I wanted something I could control. This doesn’t mean I couldn’t control him, but Davido is a lot of pieces. When an artiste is big like he is, trust me it is not easy to control him. I didn’t lose control over him, but it got to a point where we had different goals. We are still cool; I see him as my friend and family. I still have a good relationship with the family members too; so there is no bad blood.” Kamal who currently manages female act, Seyi Shay, Kamal further disclosed that he didn’t fear that he would lose relevance once he stopped working with Davido.
“I have a good relationship with everyone. People who are familiar with me know that I am a man of my word. Whenever I set out to do something, I don’t look back. I think people appreciate this about me. I never got carried away because I was managing Davido. Then, I ensured that I always reached out to people and hung out with my friends. So, after the split, I had a lot of support from my friends within and outside the industry. The split had nothing to do with the fact that I didn’t support his decision to snub the international deal he got with Sony Music. You know when artistes want to sell their market, they say different things.”
He urged other managers to build themselves and brands regardless of how big their artistes could be because they might walk away someday.
“Once a big artiste leaves a manager, it becomes hard for him or her to survive. But that shouldn’t be the case and I believe we must have learnt our lessons. When you are managing an artiste, you need to start building a brand for yourself because nothing lasts forever.”