A legend! Obi Asika has been at the heart of music and entertainment in Nigeria for many years and now he’s bringing all that expertise to the sixth season of Nigerian Idol.
Obi Asika is what you call a creative industry entrepreneur. He is best known for his involvement in the growth of the Nigerian music industry through his music powerhouse label, Storm 360 Records, which produced successful artistes such as Darey, Naeto C, Sasha P, General Pype, Tosin Martins and Yung6ix.
The 52-year-old is the founder of Dragon Africa, a strategic communications agency, and co-founder of Social Media Week Lagos, one of the largest new media and technology conferences in Africa.
Between 1987 and 1990, Asika organized successful concerts, charity and entertainment events at university campuses around the UK while studying at the university. In 1991, he founded Storm Productions, the entertainment company which housed what has been described by many as the premier Nigerian record Label, Storm 360 Records.
Storm 360 was the blueprint for the record labels that came after. It ushered in a new generation of Nigerian musical talent who changed and developed the Nigerian music landscape.
If you know Asa Asika, you have Obi to thank too because the industrious talent manager was trained by Obi and you can see the results in the career of Davido, who Asa manages.
Obi Asika has also been an Executive Producer for global events, major global TV franchises and festivals including, FIFA U20 World Cup 1999, CAF Nations Cup 2000, Big Brother Nigeria 2006, Dragons Den Nigeria, 2007, The Apprentice Africa 2008, Naija Sings 2009-2012, Calabar Festival 2008 and SMWLagos, to name a few.
He currently sits on the board of several companies across diverse areas of business from events services to marketing and media communications, ICT and real estate.
Obi will be bringing his wealth of experience to the table as a judge on the sixth edition of Nigerian Idol. On what it feels like to be a judge this season, Asika said, “It feels really nice. I’ve been in the industry for over 20 years and this gives me the opportunity to impart the next generation of talents with knowledge that will help them become better.”
With Obi’s eye for talent, we know that Nigerian Idol is going to have an interesting bevvy of contestants that will have us on the edge of our seats, spoilt for choice on whom to vote. However, it’s difficult to say what his judging style would be. He revealed he would rely on his expertise in the industry to bring out the best in the contestants.
“I’m not going to be harsh; I’m just going to be reasonable and also try to help,” he said.
What makes this season of Idol different from other music reality shows though? Well according to Obi, it’s because Nigerian Idol is focused on the empowerment of talents and stellar quality of production which is like nothing the audience has ever seen. “I don’t want to say much, I’ll just allow you to see for yourself when the show goes live,” he said.
Obi Asika will be joined by singer Seyi Shay and DJ Sose as they work together to unearth a new set of talent in Nigeria.
Nigerian Idol season 6 is sponsored by Bigi and is coming soon to DStv & GOtv screens. For more information, visit www.africamagic.tv/nigerianidol. You can also follow the official Nigerian Idol social media pages for news and updates with the hashtag #NigerianIdol on Twitter @nigerianidol, Instagram @nigerianidol and Facebook www.facebook.com/nigidol
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