HKN Music
Nigerian record label owned by brothers Adewale Adeleke and Davido, home to B-Red and Sina Rambo and the family's label before Davido Music Worldwide.
- Based in
- Nigeria
- Founded
- Not established; the sources disagree and none is strong. Secondary accounts variously give 2005, 2010 and 2011, and report Sina Rambo signing in 2012 and B-Red in February 2013, but no primary document supports any of these. What is documented is that the earliest release carrying an HKN Music phonogram credit is dated 14 March 2015.
- Founders
- Reported as the brothers Adewale Adeleke and David Adeleke (Davido), but only in secondary accounts, so recorded here as reported rather than established. Adewale Adeleke has confirmed co-ownership in his own words; neither brother has been documented as founder in a primary source.
HKN Music is a Nigerian record label owned by the Adeleke brothers, Adewale Adeleke and David Adeleke, the latter better known as Davido. It was the family’s first label operation and the one Davido released through before leaving to found Davido Music Worldwide. Adewale Adeleke, who goes by Chairman HKN, is the executive in charge and still described himself as the label’s chairman in October 2026.
Its catalogue is the clearest record of what it did. Eighteen releases across three artists carry an HKN Music or HKN phonogram credit between 2015 and 2019. B-Red accounts for eleven of them, including “Aye Po” with Runtown and Skales in March 2015, the earliest HKN credit found, then “Connect” with Tiwa Savage, “Run Come” with CDQ, “E Better” with Don Jazzy and “Achie” with Davido. Sina Rambo released “Baba Sina Rambo” with Olamide and “Kolor Kolor” with Zlatan and Cash Wale, and Deekay released “Alele” with Mayorkun and Dremo. Distribution was handled release by release rather than under a standing deal, with The Plug Entertainment and Notjustok Distro both named on 2019 singles. No new signing has been documented since 2019, though two older B-Red singles carry re-registered 2026 phonogram years, which suggests the catalogue is still being administered.
Ownership is family-held and independent, with no parent company, investor or major-label stake named in any source. Adewale Adeleke said in a May 2020 interview that he co-owned the label with Davido and had restructured it because he could not afford to run it the way his brother ran DMW, which he characterised as operating more like a charity than a business. The record is not fully settled: a 2018 account attributed to a labelmate said Davido no longer held shares, and the 2020 statement does not say whether his stake survived the restructuring. Much about the company remains undocumented. No Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission filing has been obtained, so its legal name and registration are unconfirmed, reported founding dates range across 2005, 2010 and 2011 with no primary source behind any of them, and the label has no official website.
