By Olanike Fagbule
Going by the news in town, rising artiste manager Godwin Tom and Nigeria’s hottest rapper MI are not best of friends at this moment.
And their two-year working relationship has come to an end, as both parties confirmed to NET yesterday.
Although the reasons remain shrouded in secrecy, NET findings have it that the separation started with MI and Godwin having personal issues. “It is a funny situation, like two lovers having marital issues” A friend of the pair who pleaded anonymity told NET on Thursday March 4, 2010
Another source discloses that “Chocolate City owes Godwin; he has not been paid since mid last year”
Tom will not oppose this when NET contacted him “Yes, they are owing me and they are trying to sort the money out, I called them this morning, but that is not the reason I stopped working with MI, I wanted to start a business of my own “I manage”, a talent management and booking company, but it looked like it wasn’t in the same line with the plan Chocolate City had for him. Audu Maikori told me personally that Chocolate City was a management company’
Maikori told NET on Thursday that “I met Godwin for the first time in August 2008, he was employed directly by MI not Chocolate City, and when I met him, he had two things he was doing, and “Imanage” was one of them, so that is not the reason he stopped working with MI, but he is still a friend of the house even though he doesn’t work with MI again”.
Tom agrees “I love the guys at Chocolate City, we are still friends, but MI is a talent with special needs and it is extremely difficult for him to have a manager who will be working for someone else, especially after working with him for a while, and I understood, that’s why I quit”
“Godwin was handling a lot of things, and he was really competent, but his assignment was for a fixed time, over a period of time, that is why he left” Maikori says.
The stories are poles apart, the accounts are contradictory – including an unconfirmed report that Tom pocketed about N1 Million he received on behalf of MI for a recent London gig – but one thing that stands is that rapper MI has moved on, he has pitched his tent with a new manager Lola Adamson, a London returnee whose company Lowlar360 now represents MI’s affairs.
2 comments
M.I Should try is possible best and go to the root of this issue, management business is a business of trust and loyalty. If someone or your manager is not doing right call him/her sit him/her down and table your complain in front of him, that is what M.I Should do. Because change of management might bring setbacks…
If Chocolate city is a management company then M.I shouldnt even be needing a personal manager that isnt part of chocolate city. My understanding of music business. Not M.I's fault at all. Also seems Tom is a little greedy and frankly if he started work with M.I halfway with all of M.I's connections and now thinks he can use it for himself and his company then hmm…..good luck with that Mr Tom. who knows Imanage, we know M.I and we now know Choc city cuz of him. dude's is a hustler!