Roc Nation was upset Wizkid missed ‘Made in America’ concert, says Obi Asika

Obi Asika, co-owner of Cabal Entertainment, said singer Wizkid failed to show up for the ‘Made in America’ concert despite being billed to perform.

The entertainment maestro spoke to TheCable Lifestyle during a Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) event at the Protea Hotel, Lagos.

Asika spoke about his relationship with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and how he was singlehandedly responsible for their breaking into the Nigerian entertainment scene.

However, he said that Wizkid missed out on a huge opportunity by not showing up for Jay-Z’s 2017 ‘Made In America’ concert.

“I’ve had a ten-year business and personal relationship with Roc Nation. I’ve been bringing them to Nigeria since 2011,” he said.

“They’ve come to conferences here in Nigeria and they’ve engaged in many things here. They also gave a publishing deal to another company here.

“They recorded a song with Wizkid a year ago. The company paid him to write the songs.

“Roc Nation actually put Wizkid on ‘Made in America’ this year and we were pretty upset he didn’t show up, which is bad for him. These are opportunities that are given to people. Tiwa Savage and Maleek Berry were there but Wizkid wasn’t.

“I’m happy he is on Coachella this year though. These are huge platforms. The whole objective for these artistes is to get on a tour. Wizkid toured with Future last year in North America and Europe.

“If he has some good music that comes out this year as well, he creates more opportunities for himself. It means he can become a touring artiste in Europe and North America as well.

“The transition is to go beyond the hit record,” he said.

Asika also spoke about his new business venture, Cabal Entertainment, and what it entails.

He said, “Cabal is not a record label. It is an entertainment platform. We just happen to have an artiste-relationship with Omawumi [Megbele]. She put out an incredible album, she took a different direction with a Jazz focus.

“Cabal has a global distribution and publishing agreement with Roc Nation. So the company is more of a strategic place, not a label per say.

“Even with Storm Records I never really did just label. We did television and live events. So Cabal has to do with platforms and programming.”

As to if he would work with other artistes, he said, “We do all the time but the truth of the matter is that for me is more about projects than the artistes.

“We were always about that, even with the record label,” he said.