Samuel “Soft” Adekolu’s career in Nigerian music has moved through styling, A&R, creative direction and talent management, giving him a view of artiste development from several sides of the industry.
He began styling models and artistes while at university before joining Radio in 2018, where he became a junior A&R at AUX Africa, an artiste incubation programme. The programme introduced him to emerging artistes including Fireboy, Asake, Tems and Oxlade, some of whom were still relatively unknown at the time.
He later co-founded Clout Africa and continued working across creative direction and styling before moving into talent management, including his work with Fave and EF Moon. Today, he runs Studiossoft, a creative agency spanning artiste development, styling and creative direction.
For Adekolu, there is no fixed formula for developing an artiste. The starting point, he says, is understanding what the person already has and deciding where to put the most energy.
“There is no specific place to put money. You have to look at what the artiste has and figure out what the artiste needs, and then you put more power there,” he says.
Adekolu discusses his path through the industry, what he learned from working with Fireboy and Fave, EF Moon’s emergence, the economics of breaking an artiste and why independent artistes need to think about their careers as businesses.
TNR: How did you first venture into the music business, styling and creative direction? What drew you to that side of the industry, and what were some of the early steps that eventually led you to working with artistes?
Samuel “Soft” Adekolu: I think my first full step into the industry was through styling, to be honest. I had always been fashionable, and in university I styled and made clothes. So naturally, it was easy for me to start styling. I started with models, then moved to influencers, and eventually to artists.
The industry really welcomed me as far back as 2016 and 2017. I had styled people like Reekado Banks and so many others way back, even before I started styling Fireboy. So that was literally my first sojourn into the music industry.
I decided to stay in the industry, and by 2018 and 2019, I was still styling a lot. I was already working with directors like Clarence Peters and others. Then I remember starting at Radio, and that changed things for me.
In 2018, I joined the company, initially as a content writer. Fortunately for me, I joined an incubating programme they were running called AUX Africa. It was basically an audiovisual platform where we incubated artistes. We put new artistes we were betting on on the platform, gave them radio support, organised live shows, and helped with their rollouts. These were critical things independent artistes needed, especially when information wasn’t as readily available as it is now.
I was a junior A&R on that programme. It was the first time I had done something A&R-related, where I was responsible for collating talent, housing the talent and submitting them to the team. Everybody just kind of trusted me and said, “Okay, this guy knows what he’s doing.”
To be honest, the first set of guys we brought on board were barely known at the time. Some of them had fewer than 5,000 followers. Looking back, the list was crazy: Fireboy, Asake, Tems and Oxlade. I’m always proud of that. AUX was a product of Cool FM, and within the first year, we had Fireboy and Oxlade on the programme, while Tems hadn’t blown up yet but was already on the roster and receiving support. The CEO was like, “Wow, what are you guys doing? You guys produced Fireboy.”
After that, some of us from the same team, including me, started Clout Africa, which was another digital music product at the time. It was quite pioneering because there weren’t many audiovisual platforms like that around then. Today, you have platforms like Glitch Africa and Echo Room, but Clout was very early.
At the time, it was groundbreaking. I remember Adekunle Gold used it for his rollout, Yemi Alade had already paid for rehearsals, and Peak Milk did a lot of content there. It became an audiovisual go-to place.
I also remember FIFA 21. Fireboy’s “Scatter” was part of it, and I creative-directed the photoshoot and the video we made around that. So you can see the intersection in my work. I helped bring artistes together through these platforms; I was part of Fireboy’s journey from the AUX perspective, and I also worked with him personally on styling and creative direction.
In 2019 and 2020, I started moving into talent management. That was a new direction for me, but I feel like my early years in radio prepared me for it. When you’re involved in programmes that incubate artistes, you learn how to show them the way.
Even with Clout Africa, we partnered with Buju’s management in 2019 to help with his marketing. We were trying to do aggressive radio marketing because radio was extremely powerful at that time. If you had Cool FM or Soundcity playing your music every day, you were most likely going to blow up. It was almost like what TikTok is today.
I remember Clout also developed a marketing strategy for Buju. We worked on getting people’s music onto radio. Instead of people having to pay someone at a station unofficially, we created a more formal system where you could get an email showing how many times your music had been played. We put that formula together with the radio station’s sales and reconciliation department, and it worked.
Even Peak Milk’s advertising went through that route. That brought in tens of millions of naira, and everybody was like, “Wow, you guys are really killing it.” That was the same year I decided I had done two products for these guys while earning a salary, and I thought it was time to do my own thing.
I decided to join forces with Fave. At the time, we were trying to get a deal for her, but we couldn’t for different reasons. So I said, “Let’s just do this together.” That was my first time A&R-ing an artiste of my own and working as a talent manager. From 2020 until now, I’ve mostly worked in talent management, alongside creative direction and some styling.
You worked with Fireboy during an important stage of his career. What did that experience teach you about building an artiste’s identity and positioning them for a larger audience?
I think what I learned is that, as a creative director or stylist, your job isn’t to bring a whole vision or mood board into somebody’s career. You’re supposed to allow them to explore, develop, make mistakes and figure things out for themselves.
That’s probably what I learned most from Fireboy because I feel like when he came into the industry, he ushered in a new era. He wasn’t part of the typical set of artistes that were already there. These were much younger artistes. You had Joeboy, Fireboy, fresh out of OAU, and Rema. They were cool kids, and they had their own style.
You couldn’t just impose your own world on them. I was also starting out then, and before that, I had worked with some of the bigger artistes, like Reekado Banks, but their styles were completely different. So it would have been unwise to come in and say, “This is my world.”
We had to slowly figure out what Fireboy was into and what he liked, and allow him to actually reveal himself. He would paint his nails dark, wear really cool colors and experiment with different things. Whenever he wanted to try something, I was like, “Yeah, let’s fucking do it. Let’s do it.” I remember the “Champion” video. He said he wanted to wear a Fendi jacket in it, and we ordered it from the UK.
So I think that’s what I learned: just let these guys be themselves. Help them navigate and point them in certain directions, but at the end of the day, try to listen to them. That’s how you get the best out of your styling, because they’re still themselves.
You were also involved in Fave’s emergence. What did “breaking Fave” actually look like from your end, and what were some of the creative and strategic decisions that went into moving her from an emerging artiste to someone the wider industry began paying attention to?
To say I was involved is almost an understatement because that was my project. I learned a lot from it, genuinely.
One of the biggest things I learned was how different it can be to build a female artiste. I was used to working with boys, and working with Fave opened my eyes to some of the challenges of being a female artiste in Nigeria.
I had taken some things for granted when working with male artistes. With the boys, there was often a sense of spontaneity and community. You could pull someone out of a random situation and say, “Let’s go to this place,” “Let’s go see this guy,” or “Let’s go see Fireboy.” With Fave, I realised that some of those things required a different approach. Projects could move more slowly, and decision-making could be more specific.
It made me understand that when people say male and female artistes have the same opportunities, they don’t always account for the different frameworks they are operating within. I think that’s something people don’t always understand, even when female artistes themselves talk about it.
Working with Fave opened my eyes to that. Since then, I’ve found myself supporting several female artistes around me, even when I don’t manage them directly, because I understand that it’s not always easy.
Breaking out a female artiste, especially in a market like Nigeria, comes with its own challenges. I also had the opportunity to work closely with people in the U.S. for two or three years, including Atlantic, and that exposed me to a different way of thinking about female artistes. I saw how much more the industry there was willing to invest in women and position them as major stars.
That experience made me realise how different the ball game can be when you’re building a female artiste here. Fave was extremely talented, so the talent itself wasn’t the problem. You could put her alongside the boys on that level. But because she was a girl, I realised other factors were at play. That was probably the biggest lesson I took from working with her.
EF Moon has been one of the notable breakout artistes of 2026. From your perspective, what has driven his emergence, and what role have styling, creative direction and image played in turning the attention around his music into a recognisable artiste brand?
If you’re asking about one of the driving forces behind his emergence, I’d say it’s his brand. Personally, I think he has one of the strongest brands I’ve ever seen in the industry. The last time I saw a brand this strong was Asake in 2022.
I met EF Moon in 2024, and even then, he was kind of ready. At the time, I hadn’t signed a contract with him, but we had already done a lot together. We had sessions, invested money, and supported him. That’s usually how I work with people. I don’t like to rush into things. While you’re observing me, I’m observing you too. I want to make sure we’re a good fit before committing.
At one point, a very popular manager who I know reached out to EF Moon. I told him I didn’t mind collaborating because I was busy and thought it could work. But that person told him he wasn’t ready, and I was shocked. I thought, “How can you see somebody like this and tell him he’s not ready?” He had a moon artwork on his forehead. What else could say he’s ready more than that?
When I met him in 2024, the music initially drew me in. He had this song where he was rhyming different words together, and I thought, “I fuck with this guy. I like what I’m hearing.” He was giving us a new sound. You hadn’t really heard anything like it before.
I started sharing his music with people around me, as I usually do when I discover someone I like. A lot of people were like, “This boy is so weird,” or “This boy can’t sing.” But the artistes were the ones who really resonated with him.
I shared him with Fireboy, and Fireboy was excited. He was like, “Wow, this guy is so dope.” Fave also really liked him. So I thought, “Yeah, I know I wasn’t tripping. This guy is really dope.”
At the same time, a lot of people in the industry were giving opinions about him. I tried to get him a deal between around March and June that year, before we eventually decided to release the project. There were a lot of positive conversations that simply didn’t materialise.
Some executives were saying, “He needs to find his sound,” or “He doesn’t even know if he’s a rapper or a singer.” I thought, “Damn, saying that in 2026 is crazy.” To me, the brand was already there. That was something we could work with.
I told him, “Okay, no deal, but I feel like we can pull this off ourselves.” He had a very strong brand. I’d seen blogs post about him without him paying them, and I recognised those as positive signals. I’ve been doing this for a while, so I can tell when I’m seeing something that we can build on.
Even though he was ready to release the project regardless, I felt like we were about to have a great run. I could sense it. I could see that potential because his brand was so authentic and strong.
When I first met him, the next single he was going to release was “I’m Not Normal.” I remember he needed money for a photoshoot, so I sent him some money. He came back with the photos, and he was naked. I was like, “Is this the photoshoot?” He said yes. Apparently, the money he had checked for clothes didn’t make sense to him, so he decided to go to the studio as he was.
I thought it was funny, but the pictures were actually really dope. The photos stuck with me because I realised, “I guess this is the kind of person he is.” That’s what kept bringing me back to him. Whenever I returned from London, I’d call him and say, “Bro, let’s link up. Let’s get in the studio. Let’s do something.” I kept thinking, “This guy is crazy. He has everything it takes.”
A lot of artistes try to present themselves on social media as something they’re not because they want attention. EF Moon is the opposite. He is the attention. So the job became about opening that up and giving the things that already existed around him more room to grow.
For example, we started expanding the monkey imagery. Then there was the hair he was doing, which made him look like Wesley Snipes, so we thought, “Okay, let’s dress you like Wesley Snipes.” That’s why you see him wearing the long blazer for “Activated.”
That’s also how I connected him with Ugo Mozie. Their brands align. I don’t think Ugo just saw him and thought, “This music is so crazy.” He saw him and thought, “This is a muse.” That’s the kind of person EF is. All of this comes back to his brand. I would even say he has one of the strongest brands in the industry right now.
There has been growing conversation about how expensive it has become to break an artiste in Nigeria, from marketing and promotion to visuals, content, PR, performances and audience-building. Based on your experience, how much does it realistically cost to take an emerging artiste from being relatively unknown to becoming commercially visible, and where does most of that money go?
I don’t know if I’m able to put a figure on it because you have to capitalize on what you have. Take Fave, for example. When she was about to break out, her songwriting was so powerful. I thought her songwriting was excellent, and her voice was really strong. So I knew that her strongest asset wasn’t necessarily her image.
With EF Moon, it’s different. He has the theatrics, the emotion, the personality and so many other things. If you check TikTok, Moon is in so many people’s TikToks and comment sections. He’s somebody who has the kind of personality that people respond to, and that’s where we decided to put money. It was the smart thing to do, and it paid off.
For example, the Bae U “Curiosity Made Me Ask” show wasn’t something we paid for. It was just an idea we had during one of our random meetings. I said, “Nah, let’s do this,” and I told my partner, Tosin. Tosin reached out to him, and we pulled it off.
So there’s really no specific place you spend money to break an artiste. You have to look at the artiste and ask, “What do we need to invest in? Where should we put more power?”
For Moon, in the last few weeks, most of what we’ve spent money on has been content and visual rollout. There was a video he posted with a lot of people where he said, “I no small.” A lot of his fans had goosebumps when they saw it because it felt like a pivotal moment. It was like, “Oh, this crazy guy on the internet actually has real-life fans.”
On that trip, I spent almost ₦500,000 on videographers alone. I was looking for the right person, and everybody was complaining about how much we were spending. I was like, “I don’t care. I need the very best.” We flew videographers in from Lagos, and they shot from the airport. I knew that trip would produce content that could really change things. When we saw the final result, we knew we had something.
With Fave, for example, I know I spent a lot of money marketing the music because, at the time, the music was our strongest asset. When you hear her voice, you have to look back. If she were an excellent dancer, for example, you would see her doing dance videos to promote the music. So you have to understand what the artiste’s strongest asset is and invest accordingly.
That’s why nobody I’ve ever worked with, whether through styling, creative direction or talent management, has had the same template. I observe them for a while. Then I know the right direction to take. Even when it comes to the actual figure, I can’t give you one number because I’ve done rollouts with zero naira. Fave’s first official rollout had barely any money behind it. But thankfully, four or five months later, we signed with Mr Eazi, and then we did the “Baby Riddim” rollout. That campaign went to number one in about eight countries, and that’s when we spent actual money.
So I’ve done it with zero money, and I’ve done it with money. The most important thing is that you’re doing the right thing, the strategy is good, and the talent is there. Those are the first things. If those things are in place, you’ll eventually find gold.
Do you think an artiste can still break into the mainstream organically in Nigeria’s music industry today, or has the cost of marketing and promotion made significant financial backing almost essential?
Yeah, it has to happen organically. That’s what people don’t understand. A lot of labels spend money on artistes who already have organic momentum. Then, when they spend all that money, people say, “Oh, it’s the money that blew this person up.” No, it’s not. The money came after the motion was already there.
That’s why I respect Mavin. Mavin can announce somebody from the blues and try to blow that person up. Obviously, they have Don Jazzy and a system they’re working with, but let’s even set that aside. It’s like a business. Would you ask somebody who is starting a petroleum business, “Do you believe in organically starting a petroleum business?” What does that even mean? Is petroleum going to grow on my head? You have to put something into it.
Most people have some form of organic growth before serious money comes in. Mavo, for example, was organic, but at some point, when he had his viral moment, a lot of money went into it. So it’s not really an either-or situation.
Fave was organic. I know she was organic because, at the time, I was so busy with Fireboy, travelling everywhere, but she would send me updates like, “Hey, SOFT, SARS texted me today. Would you believe it?” I’d be like, “What? SARS texted you?” Then she’d send me the song she was doing with SARS.
This was even before COVID, before she went viral on Twitter. That’s organic. Nobody is going to say she blew up because Mr Eazi signed her. Everything was already building before that. In that first year, she already had maybe 10,000 fans, including Olamide, who put her on his album twice a year later.
You might look at that and say, “Oh, maybe SOFT is friends with Olamide, and that’s why it happened.” But no, Olamide himself called me and said, “Ah, SOFT, my guy. I hear you know Fave. Me, I like her.”
So you see, it’s organic in a way. But at some point, other forces and capital come in. In my opinion, most of the biggest blow-ups start organically. Eventually, obviously, there will be capitalists that come in later and put money behind that motion.
Having worked across styling, creative direction and artist development, what do you think Nigeria’s music industry still gets wrong about the people working behind the scenes to build artistes, and what needs to change for more emerging artistes to develop sustainable careers?
I think we’re in an era of independent artistes and independent artist teams, partly because of the way industry deals have shifted over the years. Gone are the days of the serious record deal where a label completely took over an artiste’s development. These days, the work is mostly split between different parties.
Management can’t just be one person following the artiste everywhere anymore. You need some sort of structure around you. My advice to artistes is that whether you want to remain independent or you’re hoping to get signed, you’re most likely going to end up in a split-effort situation between whoever is licensing or distributing your music and your management, depending on what kind of artiste you are.
So you need to start thinking about putting your team together from the beginning. Gone are the days when it was just the artiste, maybe a manager, and a few people around them. These days, even celebrities and influencers have managers and teams behind them.
As an artiste, you should think of yourself as having a whole firm or corporation behind you. When you’re building your team, don’t just see someone as an accountant, for example. See that person as one department of a business. An artiste’s career requires different departments to function properly.
So essentially, you need to build your team slowly and intentionally. Treat your career like a business and understand that every part of that business needs the right person behind it.
You have had a front-row view of emerging talent. Who are some of the artistes currently on your radar that you believe people should be paying attention to, and what are you seeing in them that makes you interested?
To be honest, I don’t really have a lot of names. It’s not every time I meet people that I’m like, “Yeah, this is it. I want to work with this person.” In fact, over the last year, I don’t think I’ve seen an artiste where I’ve been completely blown away and thought, “Oh shit, I want to work with this person.”
But I’ve been privileged to listen to a whole lot of demos from Dwin, The Stoic and Toye in the last few days, and I think they’re amazing. Toye is really deliberate about what he’s doing. I think what he’s doing is very targeted, and I like that.”
I also think Amaeya is amazing. Two of her songs this year were among my most-played songs. She’s doing that R&B girl thing, singing R&B and making really crazy joints, and I think she’s really good at it. She also got Headies recognition this year, which I’m really happy about. So those are some of the artistes I’m paying attention to right now.
