Chocolate City (music label)

Chocolate City Music is a Nigerian record label founded in 2005 by lawyer/entrepreneur Audu Maikori along with Paul Okeugo and Yahaya Maikori. Generally regarded as one of the biggest and most successful urban record labels in Africa, Chocolate City Music operates as a subsidiary of Chocolate City Group, one of the biggest entertainment conglomerates in Africa.

The label is home to recording artists such as M.I,Ice Prince, DJ Caise, Pryse, Nosa, Victoria Kimani, and Enzo among others. Artists formerly signed to the label include Brymo and Jesse Jagz.

History
Originally founded as a nightclub in 1997, Chocolate City quickly became the number one promotions outfit in the Northern part of Nigeria and moved into the industry main stream in 2005 with the launch of the record label (Chocolate City Music). In 2001, Audu Maikori founded the Guild of Artistes and Poets with Paul Okeugo which was called an "arts appreciation society" which held weekly meetings which focused on the arts, music, poetry and creativity as a means of youth engagement.

G.A.P
The G.A.P later became one of the new age art renaissance movements which quickly gained membership in Jos, Abuja, and Lagos with a combined membership of over 3000 attendees at its peak. The GAP brought to light the need for artist to have better representation which Audu gave in form of pro bono legal services and this eventually led to his registering Chocolate CIty with his bonus earning. The first act to be signed on the Chocolate City label was multi talented instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter and producer Jeremiah Gyang (whose debut album Na BA KA sold over 4 Million copies and won numerous accolades and acclaim for the artist as well as the label).

Na Ba Ka was known for its instrumentals which was studied by a Canadian University on Sound Engineering and Production and was even listed on the top ten charts in Israel between 2005 and 2006.

Chocolate City went on to discover and manage the careers of Djinee, M.I, Aṣa, Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince, Brymo and other artists who have won over 70 awards both locally and internationally.

Chocolate City has sold over 35 thousand albums since 2005 quickly establishing it self as one of the biggest record labels in Africa.

In June 2007, Audu Maikori won the British award the International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year (IYMEY) by the British Council, making Nigeria the first country to win 2 global awards in the Young Creative Entrepreneurs Series (the first was Lanre Lawal (IYDEY) 2005), after beating 9 countries including Philippines, Latvia, Lithuania, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Tanzania, Egypt and Poland.

Accolades
Chocolate City was the first Nigerian music company to attain a global music award and recognition by the British Council in 2007 i.e. International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year (IYMEY)2007.

Chocolate City has since worked closely with the Federal Government of Nigeria as well as several international organisations such as the British Council in promoting the creative industries as well as Capacity building projects in and around Nigeria. In April 2008, Chocolate City announced a major collaborative effort in partnership with the British Council and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to take a delegation of Nigerian music stakeholders to London Calling 2008 in a bid to open new vistas for the fast growing Nigerian music industry currently valued at around $500 Million (2007). The 40 man delegation was led by the Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Chocolate City has also been active in the promotion of the Creative industries globally having participated in several workshops and initiatives. In January 2008, Chocolate City delivered a keynote address on a workshop tagged "Mapping the Creative Industries in Albania" organised by the British Council, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Ministry of Economy, Albania. The workshop was aimed at sharing experiences of creative entrepreneurs from around Europe, the UK and Nigeria.

Reuters International produced a documentary on the Chocolate City success story tagged "Music and Money" in recognition of its contributions to the development of the Nigerian Music Industry.

Over the years, Chocolate City has setup partnerships with many international and regional creative industry organizations, with affiliates in South Africa, U.K and the USA, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the British Council toward promoting and celebrating creativity in Nigeria.

On 8 December 2011, parent company Chocolate City Group won the African Awards for Entrepreneurship beating over 3,300 applicants from 48 countries in Africa to clinch the runner up prize thereby making history as the first ever entertainment company to win the prize since 2007.

Awards and nominations

 * International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year Award-Global Winner 2007
 * Record Label of the Year - City People Awards, 2011
 * Best Music Company" - Effzye Awards, 2011
 * African Awards for Entrepreneurship" 2011- Africa Awards

Bring The Noise Project
M.I (Jude Abaga) represented Nigeria on a 12 country tour of the UK and Africa from 2007–2008