Three men win award for independent music label and supporting their community

An independent record label and management company have won an award for Music Entrepreneur of the year.

Last Thursday, Finessee Foreva (FF) were celebrated as Music Entrepreneur of the year by the Young Boss Awards (YBA) presented in partnership with the Associations of Independent Music (AIM).

Since its launch in 2017, FF has been at the forefront of the UK Drill movement, home to world famous artists such as Russ Millions and Skengdo & AM.

FF also generated the first UK number one for a Drill track in 2021 with Russ Millions, “Body” in collaboration with Tion Wayne.

Co-founder of FF, Toby Egekwu, also known as TK, 31, from South Croydon, said: “We put in a lot of work and put ourselves out there as much as possible and we get results.

“It’s all about working with artists at the right time and after a while your track record will speak for itself.”

Mr Egekwu has lived in South Croydon most of his life. He said: “It’s home to me, it’s where I learnt most of my skills of navigating life and I’ve met a lot of good people here.”

Mr Egekwu runs FF alongside Chibueze Onyeche, also known as SK, 31 and Jonathan Mensah, 28, who goes by JB Made It.

The trio have known each other since their time at St Andrews High school in Croydon. 

Mr Egekwu said: “It’s great working with people you’ve known for this long. You know what everyones about and you’re not having to get to know new people all the time.”

FF also offers free music business courses for young people in association with Croydon based community organisation, MainzWorld.  

Mr Egekwu creates and delivers a 12 week programme to young people between the ages 18 and 26.

He said: “It’s just to give people the opportunity to get the industry knowledge of what it means to be an artist that takes the professional route.

“We also include the Met police for a chit chat to build bridges in that sense too.”

FF is leading the cross over of Drill into the mainstream and has met countless successes on the way, but the aspirations of its founders remain set around a close sense of community. 

Mr Egekwu said: “One of the main goals is to have a hub in Croydon, a multifaceted facility which you can turnover and create new talents across fields. 

“We also want more space for live music in Croydon, right now there’s not much space for that. 

“Young artists need to thrive and express themselves, it’s such a key element of the industry.”

Pictured top: Toby Egekwu, Jonathan Mensah and Chibueze Onyeche at the YBA awards (Picture: @Yomi.Kadej)