5th October, 2011
Jude Abaga, better known as M.I, award winning rapper and executive director, Chocolate City, says neither he nor any of the Choc Boiz are in a haste to join the craze for collaboration with foreign artistes, especially with American stars.
M.I told Showbiz Trends during a press briefing to announce the release of label mate, Ice Prince’s debut album at Lagos celebrity hangout, Swe Bar, that though the fad is growing in the Nigerian music industry and they have no aversion to the trend, they are not looking in that direction for now.
“Chocolate City Boys are young guys and we are still coming up. So, our focus right now is not international. As you know, Nigeria is a very big market and it takes a while to cover Nigeria. We still need to saturate this market and make that our priority before we go international,†M.I said.
He explained further that though the boys and the record label executives were in New York City a couple of months back and held discussions with some US labels, they are taking their time.
“Although we have these links, our focus for now is Nigeria and immediately after that, our target will be Africa. A lot of time, it’s easy to get such things (collaborations) but people should note that we are not from America, so we have to approach things with caution because whatever you do there, you may still not be totally accepted. And we don’t want that,†M.I stated.