Press

Tunde Ajaba-Ogundipe is one of the most consequential figures in the globalisation of African music. As Spotify's Global Lead of African Diaspora Music & Culture, he launched the Afro Hub and is widely credited with creating the Best African Music Performance Grammy category in 2023. His career spans two decades of executive roles at Sony Music, Meta, Spotify, Apple, and more — and through his think tank Ereko Labs he co-founded Dara, AJO, Onile, and AV Global.

Tunde Ajaba-Ogundipe is one of the most avant savant figures in the globalization of African music. As Spotify's Global Lead of African Diaspora Music & Culture, he launched the Afro Hub — the platform infrastructure that connected the continent to the diaspora and helped establish Afrobeats as a worldwide commercial force. He is widely credited with the campaign that resulted in the Recording Academy creating the Best African Music Performance Grammy category in 2023, having built coalitions with Angélique Kidjo, Don Jazzy, John Legend, and industry leaders across three continents. He has worked directly with Burna Boy, Wizkid, Asake, Davido, Mr Eazi, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Drake on various creative projects. His career spans nearly two decades of executive roles — from Apple (2011–2013) and Paramount/CBS Radio (2007–2011) through WME/IMG, McCann Worldgroup, Universal Music, and Spotify (2018–2020, launching the Afro Hub), to SVP/GM at Sony Music (2020–2023) where he founded This Land Records in partnership with Sony and The Orchard. As an independent consultant at AV / Ereko Labs (2020–Present) he advised Spotify, Tidal, Sony, Breakr, and Apple. Most recently as Creative Strategist and Producer at Meta (2025–Present), he produced the globally distributed Wizkid & Asake "Close Friends Only" feature on Instagram — an intimate portrait of two Afrobeats icons releasing joint EP REAL, Vol. 1 — and the HUNTR/X (KPop Demon Hunters) Speed Round at the height of the year's defining cultural phenomenon. He has spoken at the White House US-Africa Leaders Summit, Harvard, Columbia University, MIDEM, NAACP Entertainment Summit, and ADCOLOR. Beyond music and tech, he co-founded No Wahala — the first African culture podcast with global reach, distributed across SoundCloud, Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify with 200,000+ listeners — and through his think tank Ereko Labs is co-founder of Kitfo (Creator OS + create / connect / collab), Dara (African intelligence + wellness), AJO (African intelligence + ancestry, genetic testing and journaling), and Onile, Nigeria's first trust-focused African intelligence powered property platform.