Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage has said the record label an artist is signed to plays a significant role in their mental health and wellbeing.
Speaking in a recent episode of the Afrobeats Intelligenc podcast with Joey Akan, Savage said she didn’t realise how important the record label is to an artist’s mental wellbeing until she left Mavin Records.
The singer explained that during her stint at Mavins, she used to confide in the record label boss Don Jazzy and her label mates but no longer have such privileges at her new record label.
She said, “Who you signed to is very important and I didn’t appreciate it until after I left Mavin. Whenever there’s a controversy online I’d run to Don Jazzy’s room, sit on the floor or bed with other Mavin acts and we would talk about it. I would cry if I had to cry and we would get through it.
“But being with a [foreign] label, they don’t really care about your personal stuff. So, I can’t really go to the Empire office and cry. I miss that part it.”
She added that it is important for artists to discern whether the label they are signing to cares about them or just see them as moneymaking machines.
Tiwa Savage joined Mavin in 2012 but left in 2019 and signed to Universal Music Group.
Despite exiting the label, Savage has maintained that Mavin is still “family”.
I used to run to Don Jazzy’s room to cry during hard times – Tiwa Savage