Vanessa Obioha
When Tabic Records launched in October 2018, it was just Pascal Atuma with his raw talents from Benue, Amani Boss and AOD. He discovered the young boys during a reality talent hunt in the state sponsored by former Senate President David Mark.
At that unveiling, Atumah emphasized that his record label is a social enterprise aimed at helping the less privileged. He also pledged to promote the artistes globally and ensure that they complete their education.
Today, Armani and AOD are superstars. Their singles are played all over the world and they have two music videos each. Their songs have such global appeal that they receive over 30,000 streams on Spotify monthly.
“It is beautiful to see these village boys form Benue all of a sudden receiving phone calls. People asking about them and wondering what next on their plates,” Dias Atuma recently at an event to mark the label’s first anniversary.
They have shared stages with some of the big names in the music industry across the country and even opened Ali Baba’s January 1 concert.
“There’s nowhere they have performed that they didn’t do well.”
Their education has also improved. While AOD is awaiting his JAMB results, Armani attends a private secondary school in Lagos.
Apart from the impressive musical success of the artistes, the record label has also expanded. It sealed a partnership with EOA Holdings which has keyed into their vision to discover and empower young talents
“The goal has never been for us to make money,” reiterated Atuma. “This is a social enterprise. We are going to do our best to ensure that they become examples, reference points that one can pick a young kid from anywhere and that everybody’s dream is valid. It’s just that you have to help people to achieve their dreams. If we all help each kid to sell their music internationally, Nigeria certainly has hope. That is our goal and our partners have insisted that we come up with a solution to ensure that no talent is left behind in Nigeria”.
Atuma revealed that the label will be launching a new talent show next year. Called ‘Last Hurdle Nigeria’, Atuma explained that the show was conceived after he was approached again to visit Benue state for another talent hunt competition.
“I turned it down because I didn’t think one year was enough for them to groom a new set of talents. We decided not to sign on anyone again unless the talent goes through competition. Most stars in America today are from music reality competitions. The talent shows are the best way to pick talents because they take up to three to six months to groom the artiste. The artiste is stretched to the max to see if he can withstand the test of time. The artiste has to show consistency for that period of time which is why we launched Last Hurdle Nigeria. If a talent can survive the hurdle, nothing can stop him or her from making it in show business.”
Last Hurdle Nigeria is open to singers, dancers, comedians and models. The talent show will kick off on March 1, 2020 with auditions taking place in Lagos, Kaduna, Bauchi, Enugu and Port Harcourt.
