Why I Quit Music - Jim Iyke

If you know Jim Iyke, then you probably known that he is most popularly known as being Nollywood’s bad boy. His acting career spans years and he is by far one of the most recognizable faces in Nigerian cinema.

But like a lot of other actors at one point or another in their career, Jim Iyke in 2007 decided to delve into music and created a music record label called Untamed Records. Not long after he produced and released his one and only studio album Who Am I? which featured artistes like 2Baba and the late Sound Sultan.

Like a lot of actors turned musicians in Nollywood, Jim Iyke’s musical career was a bust. His music was heavily criticized and a lot of people didn’t take it seriously. Who Am I? ended up being Jim Iyke’s one and only album.

Now fourteen years later, Jim Iyke is looking back on his music career and getting very honest with himself and his fans about his thoughts about that career choice. This is what Jim said about his music career.

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Speaking about his music, Jim Iyke said:

I think it was a coming of age situation that time. I woke up one day, I had just started this business then and it was doing well and I was working back to back. I think I got upgraded to second black belt that time, something happened and I just decided I can do anything with my life. So I jumped into music and you know what? That was a humbling experience. Cuz at the end of the day I discovered that I was probably the worst rapper ever. But I enjoyed the experience. I don’t take myself seriously like that, people shouldn’t. People that take themselves seriously never get ahead so I like to do stuff and fail. In failure there is success. I understand my boundaries, I understand where I shouldn’t go. But I also understand that there is business in there, big business. So I didn’t go to hire people to do it, I was in that studio, I was distributing my stuff. I probably cut a bigger check than big musicians then so the business was done. I made money from that business even if it’s the worst album of the decade. I now understand that Untamed is something I’d love to revisit as a businessman. I’m a far better evolved businessman than then. What I was doing then was run totally by passion and self gratification. What I’m going to do now is strictly for commercial purposes. Obviously as a better capitalist, as a better businessman, I’m most likely to succeed now using people that are truly gifted in this and not doing the P-Diddy thing of trying to put myself out there in front of every album and messing it all up. So there’s no bad experience in anything you do in life, none at all. There is a lesson to be learned.

Did you like Jim Iyke’s music? Do you think he’s right to have given it up personally or do you think he should get back in the booth? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment on my Facebook post.

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