Zlatan’s Zanku Records Tried Three Distributors in Nine Months. For the Five Years Since, Every Release Has Read ‘Exclusive License to ONErpm.’

Zlatan Ibile, born Sulaimon Ibileke Yakub, self-credited his own recordings under his own name and, briefly, two independent companies through 2019. That changed on 6 January 2020, when his single “Quilox” carried a new phonogram credit: Zanku Records, his own imprint. Over the nine months that followed, Zanku Records cycled through three different distributors on the credit line. Then, on 6 August 2021, the credit changed one more time, to “Zanku Records, with exclusive license to ONErpm.” Every one of Zlatan’s own releases since, checked through his most recent single as of this writing, has carried that same ONErpm credit without a single break. That is five years running.

Neither company has issued a signing announcement stating terms. What this record establishes is the credit line itself, corroborated across two independent streaming catalogues, not a disclosed contract.

What his own catalogue shows, release by release

Apple lines read from the catalogue lookup for artist ID 479932350 (Nigeria storefront). Deezer lines read from the album endpoints for artist ID 4100351, where obtained; blank Deezer cells were not checked, as this record used Deezer to spot-check specific transition points rather than duplicate every row of the Apple catalogue.

Three distributors in nine months, then one that stuck

Zanku Records’ first four months on the credit line, from January to June 2020, carry no distributor name at all, just the imprint on its own. From November 2020, a distributor name starts appearing alongside it, and it changes twice in quick succession: Dvpper on two releases spanning November 2020 to March 2021, then Plug Music on the single released in April 2021, then Dvpper again in July 2021. Eight days after that last Dvpper-credited release, the credit changed once more, to ONErpm, and it has not moved since. Whatever caused Zanku Records to try three different distribution arrangements inside nine months, no source obtained by this desk states it.

Five years without a break, including through 2026

From “Alubarika” featuring Buju on 6 August 2021 through “ITALAWA” on 5 August 2026, a span of exactly five years to the day by Deezer’s release date, every one of Zlatan’s own commercial releases checked by this desk carries a Zanku Records credit paired with ONErpm, whether written out as “with exclusive license to,” “under exclusive license to,” or the shorthand “Zanku Records / ONErpm” Apple has used on several 2022 and 2023 singles. This desk’s own directory profile of Zanku Records, last verified 11 September 2026, independently recorded the same pattern from the ITALAWA credit alone; this record extends that observation back to its origin point and forward through the full run of releases in between.

A feature was checked and excluded from this run. “it’s over,” released 10 September 2026, carries a credit for “Dangbana Republik Records / EMPIRE,” and Apple’s own artist credit names FOLA, not Zlatan, as the release’s primary artist. Zlatan appears on it only as a featured guest. It is not evidence of any change to his own label relationship, and is noted here only to rule it out, in the same way this desk excluded a feature credit from its earlier record on Blaqbonez and Chocolate City.

Two catalogues, one gap

Deezer’s label field is consistently less detailed than Apple’s copyright line. On five separate releases checked directly against each other, “Cho Cho,” the 6 August 2021 “Alubarika,” “Ale Yi,” “Money” and “Bust Down,” Apple’s phonogram line names ONErpm explicitly while Deezer’s label field for the identical release carries only “Zanku Records,” with no distributor named at all. Deezer does carry the full ONErpm string on three later releases checked, “Get Better,” “Symbol of Hope” and “ITALAWA,” suggesting the gap narrowed over time rather than reflecting an error specific to any one release. Apple’s catalogue is the primary document for this record; Deezer serves as the corroborating one, and its gaps are reported here rather than smoothed over.

A Lagos Review report on the release of “Symbol of Hope,” published 17 October 2025, states the album was “released today via Zanku Records in partnership with ONErpm,” consistent with the credit line but adding no further detail on the arrangement’s terms. ONErpm’s own blog, marking five years of the distributor’s presence in Nigeria, features the same October 2025 Zlatan album alongside releases from Bella Shmurda and Peruzzi, without naming Zanku Records or describing the relationship type. Neither source discloses a term length, an advance, a royalty split, or whether the arrangement is a straight distribution deal or, as the phonogram line’s own wording suggests, an exclusive license.

What this means for artists

An imprint that tries three distributors inside nine months and then settles on a fourth for five straight years is showing two different things at two different moments: instability, then stability. Both are visible only because the phonogram credit line changed each time, which is one of the few signals a reporter, or an artist doing due diligence on a prospective deal, can check without a contract in hand. It cannot substitute for one. Nothing in a credit line states whether Zanku Records assigned Zlatan’s masters to ONErpm outright or licensed them for a fixed term that could lapse or renew, what percentage of revenue moves between the two companies, or whether the five-year run reflects one long-form agreement or a series of shorter ones renewed without any change in wording on the label. For any artist evaluating a distribution offer, the practical lesson from this catalogue is the same one this desk has drawn before: consistency in a public credit line is evidence of an operating relationship, not proof of its terms, and an artist is better served asking a prospective partner directly for the term length and reversion clause than inferring either from what Spotify or Apple Music happens to display.

What is not established

THIS IS NOT A RECORD OF A DISCLOSED TRANSACTION. No contract, advance, royalty rate, term length or reversion clause between Zanku Records and ONErpm appears in any source obtained by this desk. What is established is the phonogram credit line on Zlatan’s own commercial releases, corroborated across two independent catalogues, plus one trade report and one distributor blog post that confirm the relationship exists without stating its terms.

THE DEAL TYPE IS FILED AS LICENSING BY CONVENTION, NOT BY EITHER PARTY’S OWN PUBLIC STATEMENT. The phonogram credit line itself uses the word “license,” which is the strongest evidence available, but neither Zanku Records nor ONErpm has published a statement describing the arrangement in those terms. “Licensing” is used here because it is the closest existing category in this site’s classification and because the credit line’s own wording supports it, exactly as this desk has done before when filing credit-line evidence under this same category.

THE CAUSE OF THE THREE DISTRIBUTOR CHANGES IN 2020 AND 2021 IS NOT ESTABLISHED. No source obtained by this desk explains why Zanku Records’ credit line named Dvpper, then Plug Music, then Dvpper again, then ONErpm, inside a nine-month window. This record states the sequence as shown in the catalogue data and does not speculate on its cause.

NO NIGERIAN COMPANY REGISTRY WAS CONSULTED. Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission has no public search interface. Zanku Records and ONErpm are identified here from phonogram credits, trade reporting and the distributor’s own blog, not from incorporation, shareholding or licensing filings.

A FEATURE ON ANOTHER ARTIST’S RELEASE WAS CHECKED AND RULED OUT. “it’s over” (10 September 2026), credited to Dangbana Republik Records and EMPIRE with FOLA as primary artist and Zlatan as a featured guest, is not evidence of any change to Zlatan’s own label relationship and does not appear in the dealsheet table above.