In the summer of 2020, an impulse beckoned on George Aririguzo. That impulse had been present for a while now but now functioning in the busy economic spheres as a businessman, he decided to let this impulse guide him; it was a divine calling.

In time past, whilst being a youth, George did do music—as a rapper, but that was then. Now, he is bringing his business acumen coupled with his erstwhile musical experience to guide artists this time as a record label owner.

George could have stayed on pursuing more business interests yet it had been entrenched in his mind, to play an advanced role aside from being a music listener. “I’m a great fan of Nigerian music but I found out I can do more apart from loving music,” he says. “I can invest in music, that’s my main aim. Spotting talents and giving them a platform where they can nurture their craft and be discovered by music listeners.”

With that resolve and hardwired consciousness, 11:59 Records was born. The name didn’t just occur to George after a stroll in the street, he had to “seek the consent of God about it”. He remembered how he woke up at exactly 11:59 one night and an insight flashed onto his mind. “I was like wow, this is it, this is the name I’m using. 11:59, God’s time.”

Name, check. The idea, check. All that remained was for resources to be installed at various capacities. That wasn’t hard to come by. There was someone who knew another person interested in filling a role in the new fledging company. When it came to artists, there was an endless supply, but for George, he was looking for three things in rising artists before deciding if they were a good fit.

“First, I check their voice, then discipline, because I like working with someone who’s disciplined. These two traits coupled with how inspired you are with the music.”

Later on, in 2020, George would sign MicTick as the first artist to 11:59 records. George admits seeing those preferential qualities in MicTick and when he met him the first time, MicTick made an impression. George made a visit to a friend and lucky enough MicTick came around.

MicTick introduced himself to George, explaining he was also in the same department but a lower level student at the same university George graduated from. MicTick would push the conversation further, explaining to George he was now into music and George prodded him to do a freestyle.

READ ALSO: Warri residents react to video of alleged vandalized rail-track

When he was done, George was ready to sign him on the spot. “I was like wow, your voice is good,” George recalled.

“I told him I was ready to invest in him, he was like wow, that no one had given him that chance before. I was like okay, I’ll be the first person to do that now.”

Before George had this interview, he was in the studio, being present with a sound engineer for a mixing and mastering session of one of MicTick’s soon-to-be-released songs.

“There’s an EP in the works,” he reveals. When he speaks about MicTick, he sounds self-assured, emanating a feeling of confidence about the singer’s talent. “He’s ridiculously good, judging from what I’ve heard and seen so far. He’s very focused and he wants to put his best into music. I feel he’s going to deliver, he has a good voice, knows how to perform and he’s all-round good.”

One can tell George beams with so much clarity and assurance in this new phase of life as a Record label owner.

Having abandoned his other businesses to place focus on 11:59 records, he’s resolute to be successful with this. All this was to remove every distraction that might sway him away from the music business. Firmly perched on his mind is a long-standing goal to win a Grammy in the next five years and in that same time-space, MicTick would have risen to be the next big thing.