Aisha Odey is an artiste, manager and media executive. Over the years, she has proven to be a woman of excellence and repute, working with YQ, Toby Grey, Bukky Wright, Teddy A, Pepenazi, Ycee, McGalaxy and a host of others. Aisha admires the excellence of Ava Duvernay, Mitchelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Bose Ogulu, taking them as mentors. The African White Chic, as she is fondly called, talks to Tosin Clegg about the challenges of the business, what upcoming artiste should know, the music industry at large and lots more
There’s always a price to pay when you are good at your job
Challenges are dispersed in various areas which makes the entire journey worthy to be labeled as ‘monumental’, but if I’m going to be exact from an angle, there’s always a price to pay when you are good at your job. People wouldn’t trust your abilities at first but when you focus on being worthy to earn their trust, it turns out you beat their expectations and now the new excuse is ‘ahhh I can’t afford you’. So it’s always a different kind of wake-up call every time to remind myself that it’s truly never going to be a smooth ride because for every level you unlock to make people believe in your skills and trust you with their jobs, the more excuses they give and you are left to yourself with the options of either giving up or keep pushing your way to ‘securing that mega deal’ someday.
African White Chic
‘African White Chic’ was created when Aisha needed an identity to function as a human being. I have a passion for giving names or titles to things and people according to what is most cognissant about them or any of their most unique features, abilities or prowess. Then, being born with a skin condition with dark and light patches, which is the most unique thing about me, it’s not surprising I branded myself the ‘African White Chic’. The inspiration was to prove that a skin condition is not a skin disease, and in my skin I will always win.
Talking about my business
AWC Management Solutions is a body that is actively dedicated to the development of natural talents, with the ability to instill valuable strategic plans for quality development and evolution in every talent or client we represent as uniquely as possible. This is because at AWC Management Solutions there is something for everyone. I run Talent management, PR Consultancy, Talent Bookings, A&R, Promotion, Nationwide tour, Music Consultancy, Content Creation and more.
Budding artistes dealing with little fame
Allowing little fame get into the head at a very early stage or any stage at all is not only perilous but very uncalled for. My advice would be simple ‘before you, there were others, after you there will still be others’ just enjoy the fame and enjoy every step of the journey while at it. The top pot of jollof rice becomes the bottom when emptied to another container.
Instead of being carried away by new found fame just focus on the next project with the conscious mind of being better than you were on the last project. You wouldn’t find yourself being subjected to the claws of fame; it means you have simply given up your willpower and self-control.
Generally, people don’t understand their roles
Not all artiste managers are incompetent and not all artistes are incompetent. The problem sometimes is that generally people don’t understand their roles to play. They know they have roles but they never know which role and even when aware, they never stick to it. Some people are spending years playing the role of someone else and they end up employing the wrong people to play their own roles. Artiste management is beyond people you know or your contacts. It’s about what you know about your role and how to use these contacts to make the results faster. The factors are variable on why there would be fallouts, but an important take home for anyone both as a creative or a manager is ‘never waste time with whoever doesn’t believe in you’. Sometimes you might just be a bivouac for them as long as it’s beneficial and once they can do without you, it becomes cognissant that the relationship has hit rock bottom, which often leads to back talks, fracases, scrimmages etc. But in all sincerity, it could either be the manager or talent’s lapses.
As a manager your art is not their art
Creativity is our greatest tool when it’s balanced with having a realistic perspective, resources, time-management, strategic plans of action and execution even though balance can be an enormous problem. So, instead of telling them what to do or how to do their crafts, I strive for balance for them, I contemplate the outcome of any direction they choose by evaluating their strengths. Being objective about areas they excel in management is much more easier when the art of establishing priorities is practiced. You can actually do anything you want in your lifetime but you won’t have time to do everything you want.
Originality is rare
Originality is rare and the interesting thing is almost everyone wants to be successful but unmindful of the fact that elements of success are achievable through originality and creativity. In order to be successful we must segregate ourselves; originality and creativity permits us to do so. Originality also nurture innovation a very chesty catalyst of success.
Innovation paves way for advancement in order to be successful; we must advance beyond what we have. While being extremely creative and being original is not always the key to being successful overnight, but it’s sure the bedrock to developing one. By consistently pushing creative boundaries and becoming what has not subsisted before, we align ourselves on the avenue to success.
