Mr Eazi's business side is getting fresh attention in Kenya

Mr Eazi has more than 1.6 billion streams on Spotify, according to the Daily Nation. Yet the part of his story getting attention in Kenya right now has nothing to do with songs. It's the Mr Eazi business side.
He started emPawa Africa in 2018. More than 10,000 entries came in from 14 countries, and he picked 100 artists to back. He also runs a venture firm called Zagadat Capital. Music Business Worldwide quotes him saying he wants only about 20 to 30 percent of an artist's business, so the artist keeps the rest. Then there's Choplife, which he told Black Enterprise he wants to grow into something like a Disney for African entertainment.

## Where it came from:
Some of it started at home. The EastAfrican says he watched his mother, a banker, earn extra money from property. He also chose East Africa as a market on purpose, because people there loved music and were ready to pay for it.
Later he went to Harvard to learn how the business of entertainment works. In the Nation interview, he says music, sports, comedy, film and even TikTok are all entertainment to him.

## More artists are doing the same:
Plenty of artists beyond music now run companies. Mr Eazi has said he looks up to Diddy and Jay-Z, who both moved into clothing, drinks and media, as an Entertainment GH writer pointed out. Streams can pay well one year and badly the next. Owning a company, or a share in another artist's career, is steadier.

## What young creatives can take from it:
For a young musician in Nairobi, Lagos or Accra, entertainment business Africa can feel far away. A few things from his story are easy to copy:
1. Find out what you own before you sign a deal.
2. Know where your fans are. He did, and it shaped his plans.
3. You don't need to start big. emPawa began with 100 artists.
None of it came fast. The EastAfrican says building his empire was far from easy. A young artist will probably start much smaller, and that's fine.