YBNL vs Mavin Records, Two Blueprints For Africa’s Music Future | By Abdulrazaq Hamzat

In the dynamic landscape of Africa’s music industry, two labels stand out not just for their influence, but for how they reflect diverging philosophies of growth, ownership, and cultural capital. YBNL Nation and Mavin Records, owned by Olamide and Don Jazzy. Both labels have produced stars, influenced global charts, and shaped the sound of a generation, but they operate in fundamentally different ways.

This is not just a comparison of labels. It is a clash of models, one built on lean independence, the other on structured scalability. One built on cultural purity, the other on global integration. Both valid. Both impactful. But which model better serves Africa?

YBNL Nation, founded by Nigerian music icon Olamide, is the quintessential African-owned, self funded, independent label. It functions with a minimalist corporate structure, artist first, informal, deeply rooted in cultural understanding. Its core deal with Empire Distribution is non invasive. YBNL retains full ownership of masters while Empire handles global distribution and royalty collection.

On the other hand, Mavin Records, led by visionary producer Don Jazzy, is a structured, venture backed enterprise. Mavin has taken in external funding, first from Kupanda Holdings (a joint venture involving TPG Growth) and more recently from HYBE (home to BTS and other K-pop stars).

With these investments came aggressive scaling, corporate staffing, data analytics, A&R departments, talent scouting, and expansion into tech backed platforms.

Where YBNL runs like a jazz band, Mavin is a full blown orchestra.

YBNL’s revenue comes primarily from digital streaming, performance bookings, licensing deals, and brand endorsements. With fewer overheads, profits are lean but highly efficient. The label has turned out successful acts like Fireboy DML, Asake, and Jayboi, each breaking boundaries while keeping creative control intact.

In contrast, Mavin’s model is optimized for scale and long term global competitiveness. With a structured roster including Rema, Ayra Starr, Crayon, and Ladipoe, Mavin emphasizes global chart positioning, brand collaborations, publishing catalogs, and sync licensing. Their hits like Calm Down by Rema have amassed over 2 billion streams, translating to tens of millions of dollars in global revenue.

But this comes at a cost, multiple stakeholders, corporate reporting, and eventual investor exits.

Perhaps the most significant contrast lies in ownership philosophy.

YBNL artists often own their music, or at the very least retain significant control over their catalogs. It’s a system of mentorship rather than management. When an artist leaves, they fly solo, not in debt.

Mavin, meanwhile, operates with multi-year contracts and structured royalty splits, modeled after Western label deals. It offers a launchpad to the world, but ownership stakes are more complicated, especially with outside investors.

For African creatives concerned about intellectual property sovereignty, YBNL’s model offers a blueprint for autonomy.

For those chasing global scale and brand validation, Mavin opens doors otherwise closed.

In my view, Africa doesn’t need to choose one model. It needs both, but strategically.

YBNL shows that Africa can succeed on its own terms, with cultural integrity, artist first operations, and minimal reliance on foreign capital. It’s a case for economic decolonization of music.

Mavin shows that with the right investment and vision, Africa can compete globally at scale, leveraging analytics, partnerships, and boardroom-savvy. It’s a case for globalized African excellence.

But Africa must guard against the recolonization of its creative industries through extractive capital. Ownership, not just exposure, is the long game.

If YBNL is the embodiment of “build it yourself and stay real”, Mavin is the embodiment of “build it big and go global.”

Both are valid. Both are valuable. But as African music continues to shape the global soundscape, we must ask, who owns the master? Who owns the platform? Who tells the story?

The next decade will not be defined by hit songs. It will be defined by who controls the ecosystem behind those songs.

Why go global, only to lose ownership of yourself? If you can’t own yourself, what else can you own?

Abdulrazaq Hamzat is a policy analyst, energy economist and a peacebuilding professional, championing the militarization of Africa. He can be reached at discus4now@gmail.com

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