Banky W recently made a belated announcement that Empire Mates Entertainment has been restructured. The company was no longer focused solely on the business of releasing music and promoting artists, but has now evolved to become a modern day media agency.

According to his statement:

In January of 2017, after 9 years of being in the Nigerian music industry, we decided it was time to quietly close the record label arm of our business… We are now a full-fledged media agency that focuses on creative marketing, advertising, PR, brand events/activations and a talent management firm… In the talent management side, we are no longer restricted to working with just music artistes. We still work with musicians, but we also work with OAP’s, actors and are evaluating sports management as well.

EME was conceived in the early 2000’s by Banky W and Segun Demuren in the singer’s dorm room at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York. As early as his junior year in RPI, Banky started writing and producing music. He’d later generate something of a local buzz after winning the Albany Idol Competition. Banky then went on to release his first project Undeniable (EP) in 2003. He sold the project on the internet and out of the trunk of cars. The success of the hand-to-hand marketing strategy got Fox 23 News New York to do a feature story on him; this in turn helped Banky to land a distribution deal with an independent music distributor with national coverage. EME was in business. In 2005, Banky then released his debut album, Back In The Building, on the fledgling record label.

In 2008, the business partners, Banky and Demuren, returned to Lagos, but with a plan. It was the era of the returnee artist and the promise of being a lion in the Lagos jungle looked better than the hope of being a dog in an international city. In time, Banky went on to establish himself as one of the most important Nigerian musicians of his generation, while Segun remained behind the scenes and helped to build Empire Mates Entertainment into one of its most important labels.

It has been a good run, but EME isn’t the leading light it once was. Banky’s music is no longer white-hot and his protégé, Wizkid, stopped screaming “Emeazyyy!” some 4-5 years ago. But unfortunately, even when they were still together, the awesome twosome weren’t able to transfer their heat to anyone else on the label. It’s now officially been 10 years since Niyola released her debut album, and at this rate, Jesus is probably going to beat her to a second coming. Also, after years of toil, Skales eventually found success, but that was only after leaving the fold. And, in spite of his immense talent, Shaydee’s music never truly found an audience.

EME – Wizkid, Skales, DJ Xclusive, Niyola, Banky W, Shaydee

After disappointingly releasing just one solo album between them, the supporting cast at EME have all departed the label. DJ Xclusive and Banky W are the only other music talent left behind on EME. There, therefore, wasn’t a better time to press the restart button than now.

Banky himself is evolving. He’s become a bona fide actor, and was the lead in the Wedding Party franchise that has grossed almost N1 billion domestically so far. Also, after recently attending his second workshop at the New York Film Academy, Banky has successfully added screenwriter to an already lengthy CV.

Interestingly, by also extending the capabilities of the business, the veteran R&B singer has made more than just a career move but also a business move.

Banky likens the new EME to how Roc Nation was formed after Rocafella Records; although, unlike his idol Jay-Z, thankfully he didn’t lose his own Damon Dash. One of Banky’s favorite Hov quotes is “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” In simple English, I don’t just do business, I am the business. In even simpler English, if Banky W has become more than a singer, Banky’s company will become more than a label.

When Empire Mates was just a record label, it was very good one. The company was instrumental in furthering the careers of producers, engineers and singers through the years, none bigger than arguably Africa’s biggest pop star: Wizkid. It sits on an impressive catalogue that includes 2 of Wizzy’s most successful studio albums released locally, Superstar and Ayo, in addition to Banky W’s entire discography.

All that is part of EME’s illustrious past. Away from music, the company currently represents Adesua, an actor (and Banky’s wife), Ebuka, a TV presenter and MC, and Toolz, an OAP (and Demuren’s wife). Banky claims that the company will continue to work with musicians in the future, although he clearly seems hesitant to rebuild a new roster of R&B/pop stars.

Banky himself will continue to release music. Last year, he released the Songs About U album/playlist and recently revealed the title of his next album, The Bank Statement, named after his moribund blog. But it seems very likely that there’ll never be an EME 2.0 or an Empire Mates State of Mind (Vol. 2). It’s the end of an era but it’s also the start of one that could even be more exciting.