Rybeena has re-signed with Dapper Music Entertainment, extending his recording deal with the Lagos-based label founded by CEO Damilola Akinwunmi. The new agreement, confirmed by a label representative by phone on Sunday, 14 June 2026, covers a minimum of three studio projects and includes distribution through Dvpper Digital, the label’s commercial.
Rybeena and Dapper Music Formalise New Contract
The announcement came out of Dapper Music‘s Lekki Phase 1 offices on Admiralty Way, two weeks after industry watchers had begun speculating publicly about the singer’s contractual status. Damilola Akinwunmi, who founded Dapper Group and serves as its chief executive, told reporters at a brief Sunday evening address that the deal reflected mutual confidence in the direction of the street-pop genre.
“Rybeena belongs here,” Akinwunmi stated in a written response to Westtrybe, “and this new chapter is about building something that outlasts a single chart moment.”
Born Atanda Oluwaseun Adewale on 11 September 1999, the Lagos-raised singer first attracted industry attention through Instagram freestyles before his 2023 single “ID.Me” went viral on TikTok and climbed the Apple Music Top 25 chart in Lagos. That one record changed his trajectory entirely.
Tobisneh Records, which first signed him, later brought Dapper Music aboard as a co-signatory, and that arrangement has now evolved into a full, standalone deal with the Lekki label.
What the Dapper Music Re-Signing Means for Rybeena’s Catalogue
Rybeena’s back catalog already spans two albums, “Virtuoso” and “Mr. Bee,” both released in 2025, along with collaborative singles with Joeboy, Bayanni, and BhadBoi OML. His track “Gaddem,” recorded with Shoday, has accumulated 5.7 million plays on YouTube alone.
The number matters. It tells Dapper Music that the artist’s audience is not borrowed momentum from a single viral moment but something that compounds. Under the new deal, Rybeena will retain creative control over production choices while Dapper Music handles marketing, sync licensing, and international touring logistics.
A source familiar with the negotiations, who requested anonymity because the contract has not received final legal clearance, confirmed by phone that talks ran for 19 days before both parties reached agreement last Thursday. Akinwunmi himself has led the commercialization of Nigerian street pop into global streaming markets, and Dapper Music ranked among the leading Nigerian-owned labels by streaming market share in 2024. That institutional weight is precisely what Rybeena’s camp wanted locked in for the next phase.
Rybeena Eyes Global Reach Under Refreshed Dapper Music Terms
The singer has not yet spoken publicly about the re-signing. His management team, reached at their Maryland, Lagos office on Sunday morning, confirmed the deal is real but declined to give financial terms.
Three days earlier. A congratulatory post from producer Japh Kenti, who produced Rybeena’s “Spaghetti” single last October, appeared on X at 11:14 p.m. on Saturday, lending the announcement early credibility before the label spoke.
Rybeena’s 346,000 Instagram followers and nearly two million monthly listeners on YouTube position him as one of the more commercially viable unsigned-to-majors acts currently working out of Lagos.
The Dapper Music re-signing keeps that independence intact while anchoring him to a label with distribution infrastructure that smaller independent outfits cannot replicate. No financial figure has been disclosed. The next project under the new deal has no confirmed release date as of press time Monday evening.
