“Have you heard from Chilly”, a text from Chilly D’s unceremoniously dismissed first manager, Bestman read one late night. I was in between jobs last year when an A&R job for a small Lagos based label Chilly D was signed to, swept onto my plate. Immediate fears of an unstructured work environment first underwhelmed the experience but working with upcoming artists who had the ego(s) of renowned musicians made it worse. That text from Bestman was the first of many, (some of which i eventually began to ignore)in attempts to contact Chilly D through me, the nearest inside man to the label’s top level affairs.

Chilly D was a spoiled underachieving artist alright, bus his relationship with Bestman had been largely fettered through an old friendship born of growing up in the same neighbourhood. By design when Bestman found out his friend, Chilly was the talented one, he became his biggest fan and supporter, helping his friend book his first street shows and Private University gigs that occasionally paid off with enough money to buy both of them new jeans. Their dreams and aspirations were ultimately tied together until the label where I worked took over Chilly D’s management and releases, leaving Bestman in the inconceivable cold of being left behind.

Agreed, loyalty is a great perk many artists on the rise to fame do not have, but Chilly D and Bestman’s story is not the first of its kind. The circumstances may differ but many a time the love story of a first manager and a growing artist is doomed from the onset.

Many first managers are usually friends or nearby relatives to the upcoming artist, as such there are occasionally professional boundaries that would impossible to set due to premise of the relationship. Artist management is built off respect and trust, and for an artist to respect his manager, there must be proof he can leap through hurdles to score all the right gigs and exposure.

Dear artist, romanticising the idea of eating with the same manager you’re currently hustling with is no doubt noble, but you must test your reality with results. To stop hearts from getting hurt and egos from clashing in future, you probably want to start by not making your best friend your manager. Find the best way to work with people on your team but everyone must know their in the grand plan, nothing in set in stone until your dreams come through.

musicblog