Don Jazzy’s Global Machine

Mavin Records is also home to Ayra Starr, a quintessential femme Afropop star who debuted less than two years after Rema but is already smashing her own records on the global stage. In January 2024, Bounce Networks reported that Ayra Starr’s ‘Rush’ music video had become the most viewed music video by a female African artist, with over 300 million views on YouTube. The electrifying tune charted in several countries, including Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK, and bagged a diamond certification in France. The 21-year-old songstress also made history when ‘Rush’ was nominated for the inaugural Best African Music Performance category at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.

These achievements, and a host of others, were certainly enough to capture the interest of Universal Music Group (UMG), as the ‘world leader in music-based entertainment’ announced an investment deal with Mavin in February 2024. The deal, which is expected to be closed by the start of the third quarter of the year pending regulatory approval, will see UMG own a multi-million-dollar majority stake in Mavin while leaving CEO, Don Jazzy and chief operating officer, Tega Oghenejobo, at the helm of management.

In UMG’s press release, its chairman and CEO, Sir Lucian Grainge, expressed excitement about the deal, stating:

This is not the first time a Nigerian record label will be partnering with a foreign music giant in a major way. In 2019, Warner Music Group (WMG) announced a deal with Chocolate City which was said to mostly entail the provision of distribution and artist services by WMG—although it later proved problematic as the two companies were embroiled in a legal dispute in 2023. Then, in 2020, rapper and founder of YBNL Nation, Olamide, announced his label’s joint venture deal with American record label, EMPIRE. The deal would see Olamide, Fireboy DML and YBNL’s subsequent signees (including Asake) also become part of EMPIRE’s repertoire. However, given the unparalleled scale of Mavin’s current local and international operations, a partnership with UMG could truly be game-changing. Moreover, UMG’s interest in developing and expanding Mavin’s artist development (Mavin Academy) and executive leadership (Mavin Future Five) programmes could enhance the sustainability of the local music industry. This is starkly different from many existing international music partnerships which typically bring stand-alone benefits to Nigerian artists and, in part, labels while reaping most of the rewards for the economies of the foreign companies.

The story of Mavin Records would be sorely half-baked without first exploring that of producer, music executive and all-round musical genius, Michael Collins Ajereh, better known as ‘Don Jazzy’. Born in 1982, in the notorious Ajegunle neighbourhood of Lagos, Don Jazzy’s humble musical beginnings took place in his family’s Cherubim and Seraphim ‘white-garment’ church choir, where he naturally took to playing instruments and rotated between singing alto, tenor and bass parts. In 2000, after completing a year of studying business administration at Ambrose Alli University in Edo State, he moved to London to pursue further studies at the invitation of his uncle. Instead, according to his 2021 Blackbox interview with Bounce Radio Live, he found himself playing instruments in church bands and Jide Chord’s Juju music band for about £150-200 per gig.

Don Jazzy continued with these gigs, and a series of menial jobs, until he caught his big break with Solek Crew, a three-man band that comprised saxophonist and lead vocalist Solek, Don Jazzy and another instrumentalist who was also named Michael. Solek taught Don Jazzy how to programme beats on his keyboard, his first foray into any form of music production. Solek Crew would soon start earning £500-1,000 per gig, playing Juju and RnB/Hip Hop music at restaurants during the week and weddings on Saturdays—most notably at then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s daughter’s London wedding in 2002.

However, Don Jazzy’s glory days with Solek Crew ended when the band broke up, leaving him without a substantial source of income for months. Thankfully, JJC, a Nigerian producer who was already making waves with the ‘Big Brovaz’ RnB/Hip Hop group, heard a song for which Don Jazzy had programmed the beats, was impressed by it and quickly sought out the mastermind behind it. Don Jazzy eagerly jumped at the lifeline and visited JJC’s studio, where he finally learnt how to produce on a computer and made what he called ‘the wackiest beat ever made’. Nonetheless, recognizing his immense potential, JJC encouraged Don Jazzy and waited the few more days it took for Don Jazzy’s reality to catch up to his potential. Don Jazzy went on to co-produce beats for Big Brovaz and other (mostly White) artists.

An ambitious, talented Nigerian harmonica player and vocalist, who called himself D’Banj, would visit the studio frequently, but never quite got an in with JJC and Big Brovaz. Unbeknownst to both Don Jazzy and D’Banj (born Dapo Oyebanjo), they would soon go on to form one of the most formidable partnerships in Nigerian music history, catalyzed by a falling out between JJC and Don Jazzy. Feeling undervalued, Don Jazzy left Big Brovaz and banded together with fellow outsider, D’Banj. The duo made their debut album, ‘No Long Thing’, in London before relocating back to Nigeria in 2004, when the successes of young artists like 2face and Styl Plus served as a motivation. It was while brainstorming on how to put out the album that they decided to establish Mo’Hits Records, a clearly spelt out 50:50 partnership. They recruited their brothers, K-Switch and D’Prince, and D’Banj brought in his friend and rapper, Dr SID. Not too long after, Don Jazzy brought in Wande Coal, whom he had discovered at the University of Lagos, thereby completing the ‘Mo’Hits All Stars’ crew.

The dynamic duo of Don Jazzy and D’Banj quickly grabbed and held Nigeria’s attention with epic hits like ‘Why Me’, however, the All Stars did not make a collective statement until 2007, when they released a game-changing ensemble album titled Curriculum Vitae. The album, which was entirely produced by Don Jazzy and comprised hit tracks like ‘Pere’, was wildly successful, both critically and commercially. The following year, D’Banj released his third studio album, Entertainer, cementing his status as a hitmaker not just in Nigeria, but also throughout Africa. Then in 2009, Wande Coal released Mushin 2 Mo’Hits, which is widely lauded as one of the greatest Nigerian debut albums of all time. From the mid-2000s to the early 2010s, Mo’Hits was the moment.

In June 2011, G.O.O.D. Music, a now-defunct record label founded by American rapper, Kanye West, in 2004, signed Don Jazzy and D’Banj. This was a big deal, the biggest crossover for Nigerian artists at the time, but it was also the beginning of the end for Mo’Hits. While D’Banj was all for the crossover, Don Jazzy felt that the US market wasn’t yet ripe for Afrobeats music. He felt more justified in his thinking after he co-produced ‘Lift Off’ for Jay-Z’s and Kanye West’s joint album, Watch the Throne, and the American label stripped off the Afro-inspired beats, leaving a record that they felt would be more palatable to Western ears. Don Jazzy knew that the time for global penetration would still come, but then, he needed to focus on building what he had back home.

Mo’Hits dissolved and in May 2012, Don Jazzy launched Mavin Records with a debut ensemble album titled Solar Plexus, featuring what was left of the Mo’Hits roster and an exciting new addition, label ‘First Lady’, Tiwa Savage. The album’s intro track captured the vision of the record label with a titular definition: ‘Mavin: defined as a person exceptionally skilled in any field, a person with special knowledge or ability who performs skillfully. Synonymous with hotshot, superstar, sensation, genius, champion.’

Just like in Mo’Hits, Don Jazzy initially took a background role in the label, producing all their records and inserting his signature sonorous ad-libs. This time though, he called on marketing maestro, Tega Oghenejobo, to help him build his empire from the jump. Oghenejobo served as the brand and marketing executive of Mavin Records for five years before he rose to the ranks of chief operating officer. While Don Jazzy discovered and developed his artists and produced hit songs, Oghenejobo focused on making sure Mavin left an indelible impact on the public.