Idowu Adeyemi, rather addressed by his social media alias, Yhemo Lee, is one of the big dogs in the Lagos nightlife space. He also doubles as an A&R and content creator amidst other endeavours.
In a recent interview with popular host and actor, Taymesan, on the Tea With Tay podcast, Yhemo Lee revealed a surprising account of how he and one of his allies were the first persons to sign Fireboy DML and Cheque to a record label deal as far back as 2016.
Before letting the cat out of the bag, Yhemo Lee did well to give timestamps on how he meant the lovable singer, Fireboy DML, and the Nigerian Hip-Hop Trap prodigy, Superboy Cheque.
It was back during his university days at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) he linked up with both amazing musical talent who few years later would go on to record ‘History’ together
Fireboy had graduated a year earlier before Yhemo Lee but stayed back in Ife due to some undisclosed reasons. As time went by, Yhemo Lee bagged a degree in Public Administration while Cheque received his Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering.
Two months later, Yhemo Lee decided to move back to Lagos (where he was born and bred). He revealed that things were rough during the come-up, but a friend of his, identified as Omicron, was the saving grace, as he accommodated all three of them.
Omicron is said to have been rich to a comfortable degree, so much he decided to sign the upcoming Fireboy DML and Cheque to a record deal in 2016.
Speaking on how the record deal came into existence, Yhemo Lee said, “There was no plan”, he told Taymesan. Furthering, “We have two artists in the building—Superboy Cheque and Fireboy.”
Although Yhemo Lee admitted to not remembering the name of the record label, he still has a vivid memory of the sketchy signing. He said his friend, Omicron, just decided to sign Fireboy DML and Cheque out of sheer interest and admiration for both artistes gifts.
A music video for one of Fireboy’s songs was even shot. In Yhemo Lee’s words: “We [signed] Fireboy; we shot a video with Moe Musa.” A lyric excerpt sings “Mami mami / Mami o / You must to cure my craze” according to the nightlife kingpin.
As for the existence of that song, it has been long deleted from any online music database. “Fireboy dun delete that video from online”, Yhemo Lee said while laughing hard.
It was quite evident that the record label eventually amounted to nothing because judging by Yhemo Lee’s countenance in the podcast video, both acts were not confined to any legal commitments.
If you want to hear from the horse’s mouth, watch the full video:
