Monday, October 19, 2026

Joeboy debuts new label; Skepta features Portable in ‘Tony Montana’, other entertainment highlights for this week

This week in the entertainment industry saw unexpected collaborations and notable changes. Here’s a roundup of what you might have missed.

• February 4, 2024
Joeboy, Skepta, Portable and Usher
[L-R] Joeboy [Photo: Clash Magazine] | Skepta [Photo: collater.al] | Portable [Photo: Daily Post] | Usher [Photo: James Veysey/Shutterstock]

Joeboy debuts own label leaves Empawa music 

Nigerian singer and songwriter, Joseph Akinwale, popularly known as Joeboy, announced the debut of his new record label, ‘Young Legend.’

Joeboy made the announcement via his Instagram page last Friday, sharing a video with the caption “Dawn of a new era. @younglegend4l is alive.” Following that, he shared pictures of himself with the caption, “I have found peace.”

The artiste rose to the limelight in 2017 after Mr Eazi, the owner of Empawa Music, signed him, and he has successfully released albums and singles during his time with Empawa Music.

Joeboy’s new labels will be partnering with Warner Music, which will distribute music from the artistes on its roster. 

According to Warner Music, Joeboy “will act as the CEO of Young Legend, working with Deola Jaiyesimi, who is Head of Label, and Teniola Akanni, who is Head of Legal.” 

Skepta features Portable in new single ‘Tony Montana’

This week, two international artistes have collaborated with Nigerian singers. 

British rapper and record producer Joseph Adenuga, popularly known as Skepta, has teamed up with Nigerian street hop artist Habeeb Okikiola, known as Portable, to release a single ‘Tony Montana.’

He announced on his official TikTok page that he featured Portable in his new song.

Posting a snippet of the song, he captioned it “#Skepta & #Portable – Tony Montana (Jae5 on production).”

Shortly after the collaboration, American rapper, William Leonard Roberts II, popularly known as Rick Ross, praised portable musical prowess. The rapper announced on his Instagram story that he wanted to “bring attention to Africa and all the amazing artistes. He thus mentioned, “Portable from Nigeria, big much love.”

‘Ruin’: Usher releases new song featuring Pheelz 

American singer and dancer, Usher, released a new song titled “Ruin” with Nigerian Afrobeats singer Pheelz.

Usher’s collaboration with Pheelz, a renowned producer and mastermind behind hits for some of Nigeria’s biggest stars, including Olamide, Fireboy DML, and Teni, further demonstrates how the Afrobeats genre has continued to make an impact globally.

The 45-year-old American artiste also unveiled the official tracklist for his forthcoming album, ‘Coming Home,’ which includes a collaboration with self-proclaimed African Giant Burna Boy on track 1 of the album.

Universal Music Group withdraws music from TikTok platform

Negotiations between TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG), the music giant representing artists like Taylor Swift, Drake, Billie Eilish, and Ariana Grande, hit a snag this week after the two companies failed to come to an agreement.

According to the New York Times, UMG said it would “revoke the licenses for its vast catalogue of songs from TikTok after its current contract expires on Wednesday if the two companies could not reach a new deal addressing Universal’s concerns over artist compensation, artificial intelligence and other issues.”

TikTok users were in for a surprise early Thursday as their videos suddenly went mute. Turns out, UMG carried out their plan as promised.

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