by Rachel Ogbu//

Dumi Oburota is the Nigerian-British entrepreneur credited for engineering Patrick Okogwu aka Tinie Tempah’s rise to stardom. He is also attributed to being behind strong acts like Wizkid and asides music, he boasts a clothing label under his “Disturbing London” company. Now he is on a mission to make Disturbing London “a stamp of coolness for millennial, urban culture”. “I want people to say ‘if Dumi is saying this will be hot, we respect it’. I’m as certain as the weatherman,” says the 34-year-old businessman.

Disturbing London is a 360 entertainment company he co-founded with Tinie Tempah 10 years ago. “When Tinie was paid small fees for shows, I would turn my earnings into T-shirts, physical CD’s etc. The return from products I sold would then be reinvested. As I continued my journey I began to build platforms around me that would benefit my aspiration as an entertainment mogul. I established companies around things I loved and was passionate about,” he told startups.co.uk.

Disturbing London comprises artiste management, record label services, publishing, fashion design, brand partnerships, event curation and digital services – spanning music artists and music marketing. The Black British Business Awards credits him as an innovative thinker unafraid to stand at the forefront of conversation around the music industry and its development, Dumi believes Disturbing London will compete in a major way with major labels, providing a diversified offering for artistes looking to have more autonomy and a more hands-on approach to their career.

“Consciously, I’ve always wanted to be the representative of our culture but in a corporate environment,” he tells The Standard. “I don’t want people to think ‘oh because you listen to rap, are from inner-city London and you go to clubs or are in studios with people rapping about certain things’ that this is not a business and it’s not serious or it’s unrelatable and intimidating. I’m here to prove the stereotypes wrong.”  Tinie Tempah, tells the Standard: “Dumi is a great manager. He naturally tries to be involved in all aspects of my career and definitely pushes me to be greater.”

When asked what his greatest business achievement to date was, Dumi Oburota replied:

“My greatest business achievement today is the management arm of the business – representing two of the UK’s largest pop stars, Jessie J and Tinie Tempah, who both performed at the London Olympic closing ceremony.”

He is the 2016 winner of Black British Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year.