Whether he is managing artists or curating events, the young and funky Oluwatobi Mohammed fondly called Alhaji Popping is in the business of creating innovative solutions that will place the Nigerian entertainment industry on the world map, writes Vanessa Obioha
Oluwatobi Mohammed was on the phone when he walked into the Plug Office in Lekki on a recent Saturday afternoon. He wore a serious look as he talked. Sometimes, Mohammed’s voice was low, other times, it was high and emphatic. After a while, he hung up and approached me, heaving a sigh as he grabbed a seat.
Mohammed’s typical day often went that way. Managing artists according to him is not an easy feat and needs someone patient enough to understand the different personalities and their nuances.
“An artist needs to be respected. What managers have over them is power in terms of accessibility because they see them as their vulnerable state,” he began.
“You can liken new artists to a growing child. How you speak to them when they are 17 is different from how you will speak to them when they are 23. These are different cycles in an artist’s life. Maybe when they are 10, they come to you to guide them because they know nothing about the industry. When they start to score their big hits, it’s not the same. They start to feel like gods. It comes with their DNA. They show different shades of crazy.”
Continuing, Mohammed underscored the importance of understanding in an artist-manager relationship.
“To thrive in an ecosystem, you need to understand that ecosystem. For whatever I’m doing, I need to be number one and that starts with understanding. You need to understand the intersections where these things mean value and even when you do, you can’t just bark at the artist to do what you want. You need to find a soft landing where you explain to them why this is important and will add value to their work.”
Trust is one of the major issues that affect the relationship between artists and managers. Mohammed explained his understanding of this issue this way:
“The way the entertainment industry in Nigeria is structured, it can never be as plain as paper. Like you are making deals, you are already being told how much you are to give to others. The artist needs to trust the manager in such a way that he gets to a point where he is at peace and doesn’t feel cheated.”
His advice is for an artist to have a good manager and a good lawyer.
Young and ambitious, Mohammed has arguably made a name for himself in the entertainment industry, although he has a background in technology. He began his career at Softcom, a tech company that creates simple and connected tools that solve everyday problems. At Softcom, Mohammed displayed remarkable excellence on projects he serviced and quickly rose to the position of VP of Marketing.
His foray into the entertainment industry was spurred by a childhood love for music. He still evinced this in the way he talks about artists.
“I must be a huge fan to work with you.”
That passion led him to set up his entertainment company Topboy in 2013. This flagged off his journey in managing talents like Ayojay, Sess the PRBLM and Rayce, Boj and more recently, Bella Shmurda.
From managing artists, Topboy became a full-blown agency working on some of the biggest marketing campaigns in Nigeria, culture placement, strategy, content creation and advisory for numerous brands. This is largely owed to Mohammed’s creativity and professionalism in executing tasks with outstanding outcomes. Therefore, his name is on the top list of brands such as Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Boomplay, and Nike to mention a few.
Last year, Mohammed merged Topboy Entertainment with The Plug Entertainment founded by Asa and Bizzle and is now recognised as a Managing Partner and COO within the company. His relationship with the duo traced back to when he started his Block Party franchise, a monthly gathering of music and culture lovers. They became partners in the franchise and have always found themselves doing business together.
With the merger, the three partners discover, develop and manage highly successful African artists including Davido, Oxlade, Focalistic, and CKay, as well as sports personalities like Asisat Oshoala, Henry Onyekuru and Tobi Amusan.
Given his tech background, Mohammed has found a way to infuse that knowledge into executing his clients’ work. An example of this is his ability to capture data that will be resourceful in curating events for his clients.
“We use our tools to capture data for our clients. These brands need to do third space events and with our tools, we can capture how many people registered, and with that, we can create signature solutions like creating ID passes that capture your data into the event.”
More than that, with technology disrupting the entertainment industry, Mohammed, also a sales professional is versatile in creating digital ads that promote events.
“You being able to do digital ads is where marketing intersects with technology,” he added.
He is currently working on his ticketing platform which will be launched soon.
Nowadays, Mohammed goes by the moniker Mr Fixer. This can be attributed to his uncanny ability to identify and solve problems. With a master’s degree in Telecom Engineering and Solutions Architecture/Data, Mohammed is armed with the right tools to tackle problems.
This is evident in his Block Party which he started in 2018.
“At the Block Party, I did all the sets and designs. I can drive to Lagos Island and get all the stuff I need and do the things myself. Right now, I can start a sound production company. That’s what Solutions Architecture help you do.”
Fondly called Alhaji Popping, Mohammed started the Block Party after he moved back to Nigeria from England in 2017. He was piqued by the general perception that there are no ‘happening’ clubs on the Mainland where he lived.
“All the good clubs were on the Island. And there’s also the part where almost all the cool things happened on the Island,” he said.
To him, this mindset had a lot to do with the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).
“Fear is the biggest currency in the Nigerian system. Half of the people who go to these places don’t really have enough but they just don’t want to miss out. For us, what we did with Block Party was a double entendre situation where we used one stone to kill two birds. I don’t think you need to have stupendous money to have fun. I feel like fun is a universal language.”
The way he sees it, “the Nigeria of today celebrates big spending. Unlike in England where one can go to a club and order a cider or a beer, you cannot try it in a Nigerian club.”
Setting up the Block Party on the Mainland for Mohammed was to achieve two goals: to create a place where the Mainland denizens can have exceeding fun, and a place where they can connect to their favourite artists and talents without breaking the bank.
The first Block Party in 2018 had about 100 attendees. That number expanded that same year even though it didn’t immediately make the event a household name.
Today, the Block Party has become a movement.
“Every time I saw the dynamics changing, I had to fit myself into the new setting. I always have to ask myself this new shift the event is taking, who are the people doing similar things in the world? Tomorrowland Festival, Coachella? I took my time to study what they were doing and we ensured that if you ever went to Coachella and you come to Block Party, you wouldn’t feel like this is low quality. And now we started taking it from city to city.
Block Party events gather an average of 5000-20,000 youths between the ages of 18-25 monthly, making it West Africa’s biggest monthly party. The party’s popularity has caused it to be organically featured on platforms like CNN, BBC, Pulse, and Mixmag. It was also featured in Netflix’s original documentary ‘Afrobeats: The Backstory’.
Another intriguing part of Mohammed is his love for fashion.
“Fashion makes me happy,” he enthused.
For this interview, he was decked in baggy trousers and a t-shirt. A henna design donned his left wrist. He cannot have a tattoo because his religion, Islam, does not encourage such.
He draws his fashion inspiration from Japanese culture.
“My style is largely Japanese. It is what appeals to me. They love linens, oversized fits, loose clothing, etc…”
Mohammed may wear many hats and be counted lucky for his successes but to the young entertainment entrepreneur, one needs to create his/her own luck.
“Nothing is going to come to you while sitting on the couch. You have to be outside even if things are not moving forward. You get nothing staying inside and doing nothing,” he concluded.
