Kiss Daniel rose to stardom with “Woju'', a sensational debut single that piqued the interest of Nigerians –both young and old. This feat led to several award nominations, amongst which he was nominated for the Next Rated Award at The Headies 2015. The “Buga'' crooner has since been known to deliver timely, entertaining and melodious tunes. In 2017, Kizz Daniel established Flyboy Inc., his music record label. His long list of achievements has only led to even more in the music scene.

Earlier this year, Kizz Daniel released an EP titled, ‘TZA’ which is going on five weeks at No. 1 on the album chart, has spent seven weeks in the Top 10,  and has been in the Top 10 since its release. Street anthem, “Twe Twe'' was earlier released on December 12th, 2023 and as of the 25th of April, 2024 is 4x Platinum with over 60 million on-demand streams. “Twe Twe” is also spending a total of 19 weeks on the chart –10 weeks at No. 1 and 18 weeks in the Top 10 on the singles chart.
Another track on the EP, "Showa," is quickly gaining momentum. It currently sits at No. 1 for the third week in a row and has spent six weeks total in the Top 10. The song has also garnered Gold certification with over 11 million on-demand streams, while the 'TZA' EP itself has achieved Platinum status with over 82 million on-demand streams.

This incredible success extends beyond Kizz Daniel himself.  Mofoluwato "Uthy '' Anidugbe, Kizz Daniel's manager, is presently recognized as one of the Executives of April. In this interview, Uthy sheds light on the importance of business partnerships and the collaborative effort behind Kizz Daniel's achievements.

TTC: Please introduce yourself, let us get to know you.

 

FOLU: My name is Anidugbe Mofoluwato Uthman. Family calls me Folu, friends call me Uthy, that's the name of the streets. Aside from overseeing Kizz Daniel’s brand and running Flyboy Inc., I am the founder and creative director of a clothing brand, On My Grind. It has been a great pleasure working with Kizz Daniel and witnessing his growth. I've been involved in the music industry for a long time now.

TTC: Nice to meet you. I'm Blessing Oreunomhe, Director of Operations for TurnTable. Can you please put us through your role at Flyboy Inc. and Kizz Daniel’s management team? 

 

FOLU: Okay, I would like to say it is a family business, just the way I like to call it. I'm Vice President of the record label and also, the  talent manager for Kizz Daniel. So basically, all the running of the label is my job. The role involves strategizing and overseeing various aspects of the label, even bigger than just the talent itself. Because aside from being creatives, we are still business partners. It's a whole lot of work, from artist development and brand management to coordinating with record labels, producers, and promoters.

 

TTC: All right. It seems that your family business is also very managed and overseen by you. 

 

FOLU: Thank you very much. And how are you seeing the doings so far?

 

TTC: You guys are working hard. You're working hard. Speaking about your work, you are executive of the week due to your contribution to the success of Kiss Daniel’s EP ‘TZA’. The EP debuted at No. 1 on the Official Albums Chart and all four records off the EP peaked in the top ten of the Official Nigeria Top 100. Two out of those peaking at No. 1, that is “Twe Twe” and “Showa”, what factors do you think contribute to this success?

 

FOLU: First things first, na the work wey we dey do, you get me. Before anything, you have to thank God for grace. But without God, it's all just nothing. So, I must say, thank God for cementing our hard work behind the scenes in putting the music out there.

And other than that, the music. The music, first of which, has to be of great quality and I have an amazing brother, quality music has never been his problem. We all know Kizz Daniel is known for No Bad Songs and has lived up to the name for over 10 years. I’ve talked about hard work and grace but another important factor is discernment in knowing where and when to channel your promotional resources. strategic marketing efforts, effective promotion, and strong industry relationships have helped. 

You need to be very, very specific. You need to know your market, know your audience, and know exactly where to feed. If you're putting out music now, you need to be able to channel everything. You need to know what your strength is. You need to analyze your talent. Where's my strength? They say, I see it on Twitter when people say Kizz Daniel is a TikTok artiste, e dey work abi e no dey work?

Staying on top of things and making sure everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing at all times. Being dogged has also proved to be a vital trait of the trade. But if anybody comes to tell you that there is a pattern or this and that, trust me, there is none. I'm telling you for a given. There is none. Yes, there is a blueprint. But will that blueprint work? It is not confirmed. Trust me, it’s just good music, grace, and a well-planned and mapped-out marketing structure, then they just leave everything to God and thanks.

 

TTC: Yeah. I'm already jotting things down because I am already learning. “Twe Twe Remix” one of your biggest songs right now was at No. 1 on the Official Nigerian Top 100 for ten non-consecutive weeks, that is a huge feat for both the artiste and his team, can you put us through the behind-the-scenes process of how the production of the song and its remix came about?

FOLU: I would say that, you know, Vado and David are actually very, very good friends. So, it wasn't hard. It was very, very easy. You know it’s different when you’re putting out songs that are coming from just your artiste in comparison to when you are collaborating with another artiste. There would be a lot of tweaks here and there, back and forth with both parties but it’s all just so the release and every detail associated with the song is hitch-free. Davido is an awesome person so the work needed was much easier. We intended to shoot a visual for the original. That was the plan.

 

But since we dropped it, I think David and Vado had some conversation about how he loved the beat. He loved the sound and we just sent it in. Like, would you like to jump on it? You know, it was very, very spontaneous.  A lot of people will think that we planned this thing and mapped it out. But no, the “Twe Twe” remix is one of the most spontaneous decisions ever. Yeah, it just happened. I think David was in Atlanta when he recorded that song.

 

He sent in the verse and voila, it landed. The same day it landed was the day we shot the music video. That's when you know that it was a match made in heaven. Anytime they come together, they create, and they create magic.

 

TTC: Kizz Daniel announced via his socials a new single on May 1st, as we expect this single to be a usual hit, should we expect more projects from him this year, let’s say an album or another EP?

FOLU: Like I aforementioned, it’s No Bad Songs and when you’re invested with an artiste who takes his craft super seriously and a solid team backing every release, you ought to expect a hit song. Well for a project, a body of work/an album, I guess we would have to see as I can't reveal specifics about upcoming projects. However, there are a lot of plans already in motion and hopefully, they all come to fruition.  You can definitely expect more great music from him in the future, whether it's another single, an album, or other exciting projects. It's going to be a very, very, very busy year of music and performances. Wow.

 

TTC: Thank you very much. It was really nice having this conversation with you. Thank you so much.