All good things must come to an end. Our exclusive interview with Banky W marks our end of year feature on Empire Mates Entertainment.The interview with Banky W has been split into three parts because during our discussion with the EME boss, he spoke at length on the future of the label, the artistes, his album and other things. The first part of the interview sets the pace for the last parts. Let the tape roll….

QUESTION-How have you been able to plot the graph that has made EME dominant for the whole year?

Banky W- First and foremost it’s a testament to the kind of artistes that we have. I think we really, really have fantastic artistes and not just because they are on my label but when we were looking for people to sign with we took our time and I think we really selected the right type of artiste to be able to do this kind of thing. Steve Jobs says stay hungry, stay foolish. I think that’s very true in our case. We don’t want to rest on our laurels ever. We want to continue to work hard, we want to live up to or surpass the expectations of fans so every time we come out, every video or every song, every album, every performance we are trying to constantly do better than what we did before and take things a step further and that is the mentality that the company has, the directors have and that’s what we try to instill in the artistes. Don’t get comfortable, stay hungry, keep going, you can do better, don’t celebrate what you’ve done, look for what you’ve done wrong and try to fix that and do better. So I think with all of that…and obviously it’s a testament to the type of fans we have. We have the greatest fans in the world who when we mess up they let us know. They are very critical but they keep us fresh, they challenge us and the expectations they have of us. We constantly try to live up to that and that’s all it is.

QUESTION- How has it been like doubling as a label exec and an artiste?

Banky W- It’s been good. It was always the mindset that I had. It was always my dream to be able to do these things, not just be an artiste. The people that I look up to in the music business worldwide are the people that have done similar things, people like Jay Z, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Diddy who were artistes and great artistes but they were able to parlay that into other ventures and more importantly into other artistes careers, help raise other people to be successful. So it’s not just always about them. Those are really the people I look up to. I have always wanted to do this. It was just a matter of getting successful enough to be able to take on other things. Now that we are here and the business is doing well I am about to put on my artiste’s hat one more time and give another go and that so I am excited about that because I have four new singles out and a new album coming soon.

QUESTION- What’s your album going to be like in terms of sound?

BANKY W- its R&B, the album is called R&BW because you know you have R&B done by BW so it’s R&BW. It’s me just doing my brand of pop R&B music, doing the Naija, Afro R&B thing. I think every album that I have had ever has been similar in the sense that it is R&B but it will have its rap influence, its pop influence but it is still the fundamental R&B ish type of sound. So it is still that sound but it is just fresher and more today. It is just taking things to the next level. The two singles out now are ‘Yes/No’ and ‘Good. Good Loving’. They are doing fantastic. I feel very great about where it is and I am very grateful that fans are still letting me do what I want to do. Hopefully we can make the most out of that this coming year.

QUESTION- Quite a number of people wonder how you’ve been able to step back into the shadows and allow Wizkid be the face of the record label for two years.

BANKY W- For you to be able to run a label you need a certain level of unselfishness that you have to have. Like some artistes are great artistes but they’ve never been able to put anyone else in the forefront because they are a little bit insecure or selfish…I don’t know what the word is. There is a certain mindset that you need to have and the truth of the matter is there’s room for everybody to be successful because one person is successful does not necessarily mean that nobody or you cannot be relevant. I think that Wiz and myself do stuff together but we don’t make the same kind of music fundamentally, the same thing for Wiz and Skales, the same thing for Skales and Shaydee, the same thing for Shaydee and Niyola. Everybody is an individual; everybody has a chance to be successful at what they do. They don’t have to copy somebody else and because that person was doing well it doesn’t mean you can’t. That’s what we explain to our artiste so I took a step back to work on Wiz because I felt like Wiz had extreme great potential and I feel very rewarded because everything that I have dreamt for him has started to come true and he is nowhere at the end of that cycle. He is still on his way up. I am very rewarded in that sense. I know when we met him and the plans we had for him. At the same time I can sit back and work on Skales or Shaydee or even my own music because no two of us are exactly the same. Each person can be relevant and successful and that’s really what it’s about.
QUESTION- EME brought out a lot of materials in 2012. Aren’t you worried about over-exposure?
Banky W- I don’t necessarily believe in (READ MORE) http://www.olofofo9ja.com/2012/12/27/exclusive-interview-with-banky-w/