Interview with Moyo Onipede, Mohbad’s Former Manager and CLA Student

Moyosore Onipede is a fast rising concert producer, a talent manager, a multi-talented actor and a student of the Department of Communication and Language Arts. In this in-depth interview with AFAS Press, she talked about her events, experiences and plans.
AFAS PRESS: Can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your backgroud?
Hi, My name is Moyosore Onipede. I am a student of the University of Ibadan from the Department of Communication and Language Arts. I’m in my Final Year, I’m 24 years old. I produced Bella Shmuda’s Tension Rave concert in Ibadan as well as managed the Mavins’ universities tour in campuses across Nigeria. I represent a few talents and I’ve worked with quite a number. I also work in film as a cast chaperone and I manage actors on set. I also have a few hobbies – I act in stage plays and I play lawn tennis and badminton.
AFAS PRESS: This is massive! How did you get into concert organization, talent management and acting and what drives your passion for it?
With concept organization, I had worked with Block Party at the emergence of the premier block party with Alhaji Popping and from there, I worked with a few more block parties that’s mainland block party. I transitioned to proper concert when I started working with Tash, that’s BackStage NG and my first project with Tash was as International Relations Officer when INEC had an event and I handled booking, communication with all 28 talents that were supposed to perform at the event. It was a 2-day thing. There was dinner with the artist on Friday evening. The event started on Saturday so I handled and liaison with the teams, communicating with them on when they should be around. I handled their lodging and sorted their logistics from the hotel to the venue of the concert.
So, that’s my first major event. From there, i was stage manager at another concert. I can’t even remember the order of the events but I think it was with a cross headline show at Eko hotel. TIwa Savage, Davido and other artists were there. I handled backstage communications. That basically entailed me communicating with what artist was coming up on stage next and letting them know this artist is going to perform now so please have light, sound, coordinated for their entrance and content for the screens. That was how I got into concert organization.
For Talent Management, it was also with Tash because Tash is almost a 360 entertainment company but let’s just say 180 because it is not into films and visuals just yet. So, it’s talent management and concerts. With talent management, I had worked with Mz Kiss and I handled marketing for Mz Kiss Raised to Power 2 release. I handled the rollout plan, marketing of the project, the scheduling of her radio tour and was present for her media rounds. From there, I worked as road manager for a few hype men before I worked with Mohbad as manager from September 2022 to May 2023
After which I took a break from management. During this period of time, I started working with Gabriel Afolayan and I was handling Gabriel Afolayan’s representation. I think it was much later last year but I can’t remember the months. Every other form of management has been short form in terms of managing the artist, for example, in December, I managed Layi Wasabi’s team for a booking for Adekunle Gold. Short-form things where it’s not as if I’m present in their day-to-day business, just I manage their affairs for a show. Same thing on set as a cast chaperone. On set, I just oversee the actors’ business from when they get on set by ensuring that their needs on set are met, they’re in top mind to deliver their roles on set. So, anything they need, I am the on-hands person on set.
Acting has been a hobby since I was a child. My mum was in drama group in church and by default, because you know how you follow your mom to church for choir rehearsal, drama rehearsal, they sometimes call me, my siblings and other children to play some roles.
So, I just grew up in that manner. I was the drama coordinator in secondary school as well. In fact, I got my radio gig because we have a radio drama. I wasn’t even acting at that time. I was the president then, I was just introducing everyone, calling everyone to order . The station manager at the radio station called me and asked if I would be interested in working on radio and told me to come anytime I was on holiday. I was in SS2 at that time so I started working on radio when I was in SS 2 and I worked there until I was 21.
What drives my passion for it is that I am the type of person that enjoys a lot of things and I have a lust for life that drives me to want to do almost everything I like. I might give it like 5/6 years before doing it but I know I’ll end up doing it. I’m greedy for things that I like and enjoy. I realize that I’m a people pleaser. People might see it as a vice but I’ve been able to rewire myself to use that people-pleasing to my advantage like when there’s an actor I need to work with, I want to please them so much that it’s at the forefront of my mind so that everything that I do is driven towards that this person must not be dissatisfied.
AFAS PRESS: Would you say your course of study, Communication and Language Arts has kinda helped you in your career? And what inspired you to study Communication and Language Arts?
The answer will be in parts because I wasn’t a CLA student when I started working. I moved to CLA when I started working because I believe it will give me more theoretical background to the work. So now, if I was working on promotions for a new release for an artist, I have a background of theory of marketing that I can apply but it’s a little hard to me because I started learning new things and school became real to me. So, I realize I know school work in real life terms.
AFAS PRESS: So, How do you handle stress and pressure? Because there must be a lot coming from merging school with building a career?
How I handled stress and pressure. I have not learned how to handle that but what I do is this. I take everything in life one step at a time and because I like to enjoy my peace of mind, I do not go out of my way to do things out of my way in the sense that I don’t go out with people just for the sake of hanging out. I ensure everything is purposeful. I noticed that if you do everything with purpose, and attach mindfulness to everything that you do, you will be more or less out of trouble. Everything comes with stress right. You just have to pick the stress you don’t mind going through. Like now, setting up concerts, working with talents, working on set is very stressful but I enjoy doing it. It’s a lot of stress but stress I don’t mind engaging in. Combining with school is on a whole new level but I do try to strike a middle ground because I don’t want my grades to entirely suffer. It’s hard striking a balance.
AFAS PRESS: You mentioned that you once managed talents like Mohbad, how was it like and especially with his unfortunate demise? Can you talk about it?
Working with Mohbad has been one of the most interesting and engaging moment in my career. It was literally the best time and everyone else on the team, people that had to meet both of us together understood that we were good friends. He was literally like my best friend because we existed in the same space, went through challenges together during that period of time, so we shared burdens together and were close at that time. It was very enjoyable. It was tasking. I come from an Ajebutter background but working with Mohbad helped me to develop tough skin. By force by fire, working with him helped me face challenges head-on. I’ve always said I’m a non-confrontational person but working with talents will have you face challenges head-on. There’s no postponing. This is the situation on ground. You have to find a way on around it immediately because it’s not just me that I’m thinking about. I’m thinking for the talents I’m working for or working with. I’m thinking for the team. So, whatever decisions I make as the manager is supposed to be for the progress of the team and also putting in mind the image and brand of the talent at stake. That was an interesting time of my life. It was a terrible time September last year when Mohbad passed. I remembered I was in church when I got the news and I had spoken with him the day before. It was shocking as hell when I got the call that this was going on and I needed to call someone to confirm what was going on in his house. It was a terrible time. I took a while to balance because I actually stopped managing him earlier in the year but I was still very much involved in his business. I just wasn’t managing him anymore but I know I am in school and I didn’t want to give myself to school and to his service in bits. I had to pick one and school was what it had to be. So, yeah, it was really terrible, felt like the biggest gamble the universe could pull.
AFAS PRESS: Going forward, do you have any role models? Like who are those people you admire their crafts in your fields?
There’s Taiwo Adeyemi who manages Nse Ekpe Etim, he also manages Tunde Onakoya, the Guinness world record holder.
They are not really my role models. I’ll say some of the choices that they’ve made in their lives are worthy of emulation. There’s my friend, Tolu Daniels. There are just a few people I look at what they create and I’m impressed. There’s my friend, Toba Adeyanju. There are several people I look at and I’m like you’re doing so great and I love that for you.
AFAS PRESS: Now tell us, do you have any concert or show coming soon? Tell us about it
There are always concerts in the bag. There’s Bella show coming up on January again. There’s Mavin University tour, UI is on the list again. That’s coming up much later in the year. I know the date but you don’t know the date, so you have to stay tuned.
AFAS PRESS: Okay so finally, what can you say to young people aspiring to tow the path of talent management, concert production, the creative industry at large?
I’ll say persistence and consistency; those are like the basic tenets that every young person needs to build their life or career on. There should be that zeal that keeps you going. There are situations where you’ll have to choose between going big or going home and you choose to go home. Like there are situations like that, they say choose your battles but sometimes, you have to choose yourself. In these instances, you choose yourself and you’re just like I don’t want this to be my headache. And sometimes, persistence is key. You just have to keep showing up. You’ve to keep doing it till you get your big break, get noticed and you just hit it, like when you just have it figured out for yourself. You also have to be consistent. There’s an element of persistence in consistency where you just show up consistently. Consistency is also key, like the spare key. Just keep showing up. Keep doing what you’ve to do. There are days when you don’t feel like it but if you love it, you will wake up and be like I’ve woken up, time to get this done. I think just persistence and consistency. Those are two things I know that I’ve made my watchwords for doing life,things, associations and work.
AFAS PRESS: It’s been an interesting conversation. Thank you so much.
Thank you for asking me!