Dubai’s number one Nigerian show promoter, Lanre Typical, born Azeez Olanrewaju Adenekan, who relocated from Nigeria to Dubai, United Arab Emirate seven years ago, has declared that the Gulf State has welcome Nigerian music with open arms.
Speaking in a chat with our reporter, the CEO of TypicalNaija.ng, a fashion and music distribution blog, says Nigerian Afrobeat is played in all clubs in Dubai.
According to him, when he came to Dubai seven years ago, only select group of people embraced Nigeria music but averred that the situation has changed tremendously.
“As we all know, Afrobeat is one of the biggest genres in the world right now. It’s loved by all and now widely accepted. All clubs rock to it here in Dubai. Every club has or wants an Afrobeat night which they were not proud of a few years back. Afrobeat has taken over all clubs in Dubai. I can remember a few years back, Nigerian music was accepted by selected few, but today it has been accepted by everyone. I feel if there is consistency, it will remain in the mainstream for a long time to come,” he stated emphatically.
According to the Computer Science graduate of Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo-turned show promoter, it took some hard work to sell Nigerian music to the Gulf State and he explained how he played his part in this regard.
“Funny enough, I came to Dubai for vacation and decided to reside here after seeing so many opportunities. Nigerian entertainment wasn’t so strong when I came to Dubai about seven years ago. I visited the first club where Nigerians hang out and the music wasn’t good, so I met with the manager and gave him some pieces of advice on how to make it better. Then I was called by the club management the same week for a meeting. After taking my advice which worked for them they told me they would like to work with me and I accepted and that’s how it all started. They were paying me weekly for publicity and promotions which was good pay and I felt there’s more to gain than lose. So I decided to stay back. I was once a music artiste way back in my university days. About 16 years ago I stopped singing after opening my entertainment blog, Typicalnaija.ng which was from the influence from what I studied – Computer Science, at Lagos State University.
“My blog was buzzing and I was using the platform to promote artistes; then after relocating to Dubai, I started promoting Nigerian entertainment in clubs and started bringing artistes from Africa to the United Arab Emirates for performances,” he said.
Lanre Typical says he is a top-notch, award-winning Nigerian entertainment executive/promoter who celebrates the finest talents and outstanding individuals in the Nigeria/Africa entertainment industry, bringing the very best artistes from Africa on a monthly basis for the nightlife experiences to Africans based in Dubai and in the entire Gulf region.
He recalled that in 2019 alone, he brought over 30 Nigerian artistes to Dubai and the list includes the likes of Zlatan, 9ice, Peruzzi, Harrysong, Slimcase, Reminisce, Qdot and many others. He maintains that his exploits have not gone unnoticed as many awards have come his way.
“In 2019 alone, I won Scream All The Way’s Showbiz Promoter of the Year award as well as MAYA Awards Africa’s Show Promoter of the Year Award,” he said.