Marlian Records, owned by the street-hop artist Azeez Fashola, widely recognized as Naira Marley, was established in December 2019 and has since expanded to encompass a diverse array of additional artists within its roster.
In today’s music industry, securing a record label deal is a formidable challenge, often leading to the unfortunate demise of many budding talents, left without guidance and sponsorship for their musical careers.
Fortunately, Naira Marley, the CEO of Marlian Music, has extended an inviting opportunity for young and emerging musicians to join his record label. Nevertheless, recent controversy surrounds the fate of the label due to the tragic passing of one of its former artists, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, known as MohBad. Accusatory fingers are pointing at Naira Marley and others.
The reasons for this suspicion are not obscure. MohBad was previously signed to Naira Marley’s Marlian Records before his contentious departure in 2022. Sadly, he met an untimely demise on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, at the tender age of 27, allegedly stemming from violence and bullying within his former record label.
Here is a list of artists currently under the Marlian Records banner:
- Naira Marley: Azeez Adeshina Fashola, professionally known as Naira Marley, is the founder and CEO of Marlian Records. He unveiled the label on December 30, 2019, during the Marlian Fest concert at Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos.
- Zinoleesky: Oniyide Azeez, popularly referred to as Zinoleesky, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and rapper born on April 21, 2000. He was one of the four artists who inked deals with Marlian Music in December 2019.
- CBlvck: Olamilekan Kazeem Kudus, professionally known as CBlack, joined Marlian Music on the same night as Zinoleesky, in December 2019.
- Fabian Blu: Inim Fabian, also recognized as Fabian Blu, hails from Akwa Ibom State. He was among the four artists signed to Marlian Music in 2019. Some time after his signing, Fabian Blu, at the age of 25, voiced concerns on social media about Marlian Music not promoting him as vigorously as his label mate Zinoleesky. Whether he has departed from the label or not remains undisclosed, as neither Fabian nor Marlian Music has confirmed any contract termination.
- Tori Keeche: On August 23, 2020, Tori Keeche was unveiled as the first female artist signed to Marlian Music.
- Vusic: Vusic, a Lagos, Nigeria native, officially joined Marlian Records in June 2023. He initiated his music career in 2019.
- Emo Grae: Emo Grae, a singer-songwriter known for tracks like “0903” and “Gone,” became a part of Marlian Records in 2020.
- Lyta: Babatunde Rahim, commonly known as Lyta, is a Nigerian singer who joined Marlian Records in 2020 after departing from YBNL, rapper Olamide’s record label, in 2018 amid controversial circumstances.
