In 2024, Chocolate City celebrates twenty years of its existence, the longest ever for a Nigerian record label in modern times. This is certainly no mean feat in Nigeria’s music climate, where eras come and go in years, especially with the global rush of the last few years that has shaken up Nigeria’s music structure, granting crowns to new champions and phasing out the creatives and executives who refuse to evolve. Through it all Chocolate City has remained a steady provider of the biggest and brightest stars of Nigerian music, a steadfast rock in all this fast-paced evolution, and a creative outlet to the many artists who, at different points in time, have called it home.
Source: Instagram/audumaikori
Two decades ago, Audu Maikori, Paul Okuego and Yahaya Maikori founded Chocolate City record label. At the time it was part of an affinity the trio had towards the arts. They had originally built the Chocolate City nightclub in Jos, and a while later, Audu and Paul founded the Guild of Artists and Poets, an arts appreciation society that held weekly meetings for creatives and lovers of arts. This would morph to become a record label that sought to cater to young, talented artists, especially from Audu’s home city of Jos. Chocolate City has earned a reputation for nurturing Nigeria’s finest rap talents, and there was a period in which it appeared the record label was a house built solely for Hip-hop creatives. This, however, was only the unintended effect of rappers M.I, Ice Prince and Jesse Jagz blitzing to limelight at the end of the 2000s. Before any of them signed to Chocolate City, its sole artist was the Jos-born singer, Jemeriah Gyang. The gospel artist who sang chiefly in Hausa came to limelight with the release of Na Na Ka! (feat. Six Foot Plus) in 2005.
In 2006, M.I was signed as the label’s first rapper, and he was soon accompanied by his brother Jesse Jagz, and Ice Prince, rappers also based in Jos. M.I released his debut album, Talk About It in 2008 and its sequel, M.I 2: The Movie arrived a year later. These early projects quickly defined what we would be getting from him: quick wit, clever puns, and an elegant, champagne-dipped delivery. Also evident was his readiness and ability to meander from traditional Hip-hop production and embrace Afropop rhythms, especially on choruses, this helped endear him to the audience and increase market penetration. His label mates were just as active. Ice Prince’s debut, Everybody Loves Ice Prince released in 2011, and it showcased him as the ambidextrous creator, spiced with wholesome offerings like Juju and Oleku with which he smartly straddled the divide between Pop and Hip-hop. Jesse Jagz, the last member of this trinity, was its most eccentric, his music imbued with a variety of influences from American to Caribbean.
Brymo’s presence made for some welcome diversity to the record label’s slate. Before making his first proper release on Chocolate City, a couple of brilliant features on label mates’ songs Love You (by Jesse Jagz) and Oleku (by Ice Prince) already ingratiated him with the public. He released the album, #TheSonOfAKapenta in 2012, supported by singles like Ara, Good Morning and Go Hard. The project positioned him as the alternative star, whose folksy melody and guttural voice was going to be a critical template to the growing Nigerian music scene and an X-factor to chocolate city record label. This relationship, however, was cut short when the singer announced the following year that he would be leaving the label. While he worked his way out of Chocolate City, it grew in stature and roster.
The label welcomed its first female acts in 2012. First the rapper Pryse, dubbed Chocolate City’s ‘First Lady’, as she made her entry on a feature on M.I’s Illegal Music 2 mixtape. She was joined by Victoria Kimani in November, with the Kenyan-US popstar coming on board to add another dimension to the label’s sonic palette. At the time, she was making waves underground in the US’s music ecosystem, but it was her cover of Ice Prince’s Oleku that caught the attention of the label. Other artists also signed to the label in 2012 included DJ Caise and the now gospel singer, Nosa.
By 2013, though, it was time for some departures, and as it often happens in the music business, these affairs easily got ugly. In March, Jesse Jagz announced he would be leaving the label, after declining to renew his initial two-year contract at its expiration. Brymo attempted his own exit a few months later, but as the label claimed he was signed on a five-year contract (that was still running), this move was contested in court as chocolate City sought to stop him from releasing music outside the label.
Despite the setbacks these exits caused, Chocolate City kept its forward momentum. Ice Prince released his sophomore album, Fire Of Zamani in late 2013, with M.I following up with The Chairman a year later. New additions were also made to the label’s roster, as the Canadian based rapper Dice Ailes was signed in mid 2014, while singer Koker also came on board. Up until then, M.I, who was the label’s Vice President, had also operated his own label, Loopy Music, as a subsidiary of Chocolate City. In 2015, a restructuring of the company’s executive hierarchy saw M.I become CEO of the record label, while Audu Maikori stepped up to become the President of parent Chocolate City Group, which oversaw the record label in addition to other divisions like music distribution and management consulting. Ice Prince then settled into the role of Vice President of music, replacing M.I.
M.I ascending to Chocolate City’s top seat meant he could bring his two labels together. Chocolate City absorbed Loopy Music, and all its stars—including Ruby Gyang, Loose Kanyon, The Threadstone Band, DJ Lambo and Milli—became part of the Chocolate City family. The label now had 13 artists on its roster, and in mid 2015, Chocolate City put out a momentous collaborative album that featured all its stars—a 15-track piece that was a bold display of the label’s sprawling talent. It was titled The Indestructible Choc Boi Nation, and like the label’s individual artists did, it majored in Hip Hop, with occasional swings into Afropop and AfroRnB helping to build a complete sonic experience. Notably featured amongst the credits was Jesse Jagz, who was returning after a two-year hiatus to begin another stint with the label.
Over the next few years, Chocolate City, under M.I’s guidance, continued to search for and sign young talent. Ckay, Qritical and Yung L all came on board between 2016 and 2017. As the label continued to expand, Ice Prince and Jesse Jagz, two of its most senior members, unveiled subsidiary labels, the Super Cool Cats and Jagz Nation respectively, which were to allow the stars to remain affiliated to Chocolate City while getting the opportunity to discover and mentor younger talent. At about the same time, Ice Prince departed the label after his contract expired, and Jesse Jagz followed a year later.
Therefore, roughly ten years after they were first signed, three of the Choc Boy quartet—Ice Prince, Jesse Jagz—had now departed. M.I, the last remaining member, was also the label’s CEO, overseeing the growth of its young artists. Koker was making waves with popping tracks like Do Something and Kolewerk, while Ckay released Ckay The First in 2017 to modest appeal, the project that birthed Love Nwatiti and its eventual global run three years later. M.I himself was making strides with his music career outside his executive role, and he released his Rendezvous mixtape and Yxng Dxnzl album in 2018. 2019 brought the next set of executive shake-ups to accommodate the label’s growing status, especially internationally. Chocolate City entered into a partnership with Warner Music Group, a move that provided the label and its artists with international reach they needed to secure a spot in Afrobeats’ foreign march. Shortly after, it was rumoured that M.I had stepped down from his CEO position at the label, but they remained unconfirmed until 2020, when MI announced he was exiting the label after thirteen years. Following that move, Audu Maikori picked the reins at Chocolate City label in addition to the parent group, with Aibee Abidoye remaining the Executive Vice President.
Through the 2020s, Chocolate City has positioned itself at the forefront of Nigerian music, with a roster that aims to display the wealth of music variety and quality that the label has made its legacy. Blaqbonez holds on to the label’s Hip-Hop history while still servicing Nigeria’s Afropop cravings; Candy Bleakz occupies a niche as one of Nigeria’s most prominent female Street Pop acts; love balladeer Young Jonn has won hearts since his pivot into recording music from producing it; while other stars Major AJ, Noon Dave and Tar1q are fashioning out careers stringing together saccharine Afropop with familiar folk sound. Under current CEO Abuchi Ugwu, Chocolate City continues to be a beacon of excellence and potential in the Nigerian music scene, and the abundance of youth and creativity on its roster means the next few years for the label look every bit as exciting as the twenty that came before.