by 
Naira Marley had just one year in the mainstream and what he built was a hub.
Yes, Marlian Music has now become a talent hub. With the quality of talents on his roster, he has a platform that rivals prime YBNL and prime Mavins. What Naira Marley is doing in the music industry has to be studied.
How did he start?
In 2019, Naira Marley gained buzz when he released the smash hit, “Am I A Yahoo Boy” with Zlatan Ibile, who was at the time riding what was left of his 2018 “Zanku“.
The hit song attracted the attention of fans across the country and even purportedly landed him in jail, as the EFCC got wind of him and arrested him on fraud charges.
What happened after, was Naira Marley‘s moment. He came out of jail and made a viral street song that came with a dance, “Soapy,” arguably the most important track in Marley‘s discography.
That song elevated his status on the streets, with fans heralding him as an even better version of Zlatan Ibile.
Zlatan Ibile went on to be nominated for the prestigious Next Rated award later that year, and Naira Marley went on to become an icon.
Marley, whom nobody knew just a year before, became a mainstream artist. He even got invited to the most important Afrobeats show of our time, Starboy Fest 2019 at the O2 Arena in London.
He continued to wow fans after that and built up enough hype up until December. Then, he hosted his own headline concert in Lagos, Marlian Fest.
He unveiled Marlian Records in December 2019.
At the Marlian Fest concert in Lagos, Naira Marley introduced fans to four new artists whom he has signed and asked that fans support them as they support him.
Mohbad, Zinoleesky, C Black, and Fabian Blu, were the four guys he unveiled.
The year 2020 opened with Naira Marley putting out some bangers like “Aye” and “Didolobo.” These jams were undoubtedly hot on the streets. After that, he took a chill pill and let his artists release stuff. Sometimes, he’d jump on their songs to give them some shine.
Marlian Music took over 2020.
Before half of the year was gone, both Zinoleesky and Mohbad were doing good for themselves and working on new stuff too. In June 2020, he added another talented musician, Emo Grae, to the roster, and in August, he signed former YBNL singer, Lyta to the label.
He now has six artists on the label. Zinoleesky and Mohbad have already put out their debut projects, “Chrome EP” and “Light EP,” respectively. Lyta has also been doing well with singles and a project from him will go a long way.
Lyta’s latest single, “Are You Sure” features his label mates, Zinoleesky and Emo Grae, with the boss, Naira Marley. Mohbad was featured on the big amapiano hit, “KPK” last December and has since achieved for himself a mainstream status.
Zinoleesky‘s EP is one of the best of 2020, and every song the guy drops is a hit. Emo Grae is one underrated vocalist, who definitely knows how to make a hit too. He has hits like “How Come” and “0903” with Buju, under his belt.
And then there’s NM himself who hasn’t even dropped his debut album yet. Think of how big these guys are in the industry right now. Arguably one of the biggest, if not the biggest.
