Behind almost every big African star is a label that took a chance on them. Some of these African record labels began in a nightclub, a university dorm in New York or a rapper’s growing bank account. One was bought by Universal Music Group. Another took its name from a joke about internet fraudsters. Together they built the sound the world now calls Afrobeats, amapiano and bongo flava.
Here are ten African record labels that shaped modern African pop, and the stars they launched.
1. Mo’ Hits Records (Nigeria): where it started
Producer Don Jazzy and singer D’banj founded Mo’ Hits in the mid-2000s, and it became the blueprint for the modern Nigerian pop label: a producer-led hit factory with a roster of stars. Its most famous album is Wande Coal’s 2009 debut, which still shapes Nigerian pop melodies today.
The label closed in 2012 when D’banj left. Read about Mushin 2 Mo’Hits, the debut Nigerian pop still copies.
2. Chocolate City (Nigeria, 2005)
Chocolate City started as a nightclub in 1997 and became the leading promotions outfit in northern Nigeria before three lawyers, Audu Maikori, Paul Okeugo and Yahaya Maikori, launched the record label in 2005. It gave M.I Abaga, Ice Prince, Jesse Jagz and Brymo their platforms and worked on the careers of Asa and Djinee.
In March 2019 it partnered with Warner Music Group. Today its roster includes Young Jonn and Blaqbonez. Read the Young Jonn story.
3. Empire Mates Entertainment, E.M.E (Nigeria, 2002)
Banky W and Tunde Demuren started E.M.E in 2002 while Banky was a student in Albany, New York, where he earned money singing to customers in hair and nail salons. He moved it to Lagos in 2008 and signed a teenage Wizkid and Skales in 2009.
That one signing changed African music. Banky turned E.M.E into a talent management company in 2018, then revived the label in 2021.
4. Mavin Records (Nigeria, 2012)
When Mo’ Hits ended, Don Jazzy launched Mavin Records on 8 May 2012 and signed Tiwa Savage the next month. “Mavin” describes someone gifted in their field, and the label’s alumni list proves the point: Tiwa Savage, Wande Coal, Reekado Banks, Iyanya and D’Prince.
Its current roster includes Rema, Ayra Starr, Crayon, Johnny Drille and Magixx. In February 2024 Universal Music Group bought a majority stake, the clearest sign yet of how much African labels are now worth.
5. YBNL Nation (Nigeria, 2012)
YBNL stands for “Yahoo Boy No Laptop”, a tongue-in-cheek name from Olamide. He founded it in 2012 with producer Pheelz, using his own earnings to back new acts. “I need to spend money on people,” he said.
The list of artists YBNL launched is remarkable: Lil Kesh, Adekunle Gold, Fireboy DML and Asake. Billboard named it one of “the Gatekeepers” of Nigerian music in 2020, the year it signed a deal with Empire.
6. Starboy Entertainment (Nigeria, 2013)
Wizkid left E.M.E and set up his own label, Starboy Entertainment, in March 2013. It has been the home base for his own career and for acts such as Terri, whose “Soco” was a Starboy release. In December 2019 the label put out the compilation EP Soundman Vol. 1.
7. Spaceship Records (Nigeria, 2015)
Burna Boy founded Spaceship Entertainment on 18 February 2015 after leaving Aristokrat Records. In 2020 it became Spaceship Records and signed producers LeriQ and Telz, singer Nissi and, for one year, Bnxn (then known as Buju), who released “Lenu (remix)” with Burna Boy during his stay.
8. WCB Wasafi (Tanzania, 2014)
Diamond Platnumz‘ Wasafi Classic Baby is one of the biggest labels in East Africa. Headquartered at Mbezi Beach in Dar es Salaam, it launched Harmonize, who left in 2019 to start Konde Music Worldwide, and Rayvanny, who left in 2022 for his own Next Level Music.
Its roster today includes Mbosso and Zuchu, signed in April 2020. In 2021 it signed a distribution deal with Ziiki and Warner Music Group. Read how Diamond turned bongo flava into a business.
9. Kalawa Jazmee (South Africa)
Kalawa Jazmee is known above all for building kwaito, the township sound of 1990s South Africa. Kalawa Jazmee’s roster reads like a history of South African dance music: Oskido, Trompies, Boom Shaka, Mafikizolo, DJ Zinhle, Busiswa and, more recently, DJ Maphorisa and Vigro Deep, who carried its sound into amapiano.
Read about kwaito’s history and Boom Shaka and Lebo Mathosa.
10. Lynx Entertainment (Ghana)
Ghana’s best-known hit factory, run by producer Richie Mensah, built the careers of MzVee, KiDi and Kuami Eugene, two of whom went on to win Artiste of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards. Read the full story in inside the Lynx Entertainment hit factory and our list of Ghanaian stars who own their labels.
What the best African record labels have in common
Almost every label on this list was started by an artist or a producer, not a business executive: Don Jazzy, Olamide, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Diamond Platnumz, Banky W. They signed young artists early, built them around in-house producers and let them leave to start their own labels. Harmonize, Rayvanny and Wizkid all did exactly that.
The other change is money. With Universal now owning most of Mavin and Warner partnering with Chocolate City and WCB Wasafi, African record labels are no longer just local businesses. They are assets the global industry wants to own.
