Sef Naqui is a name synonymous with UK music.
A jack-of-all-trades, he began his career as a singer and successfully ventured into song-writing, A&R and management. His current position holds ground as MD of rapidly growing UK label, LBE (London Boy Entertainment).
Naqui kicked off his career in the early 2000s as part of singing duo The Reelists, who were signed to Go Beat Records under Ferdy Unger Hamilton. Their single ‘Freak Mode’ and frequent collaborations with popular rap group, So Solid Crew, put his name on the map. The So SolidCrew/Reelists collaboration ‘Broken Silence’ (in which Sef is lead vocalist) was one of four songs to chart in the UK Top 10 under So Solid Crew between 2001-2003.
In 2003, he signed with Atlantic Records as a solo artist as well as signing a publishing deal under Guy Moot at EMI. Under EMI, he wrote for Rod Temperton, Robin Thicke, Sean Garrett, Stargate and more. His time with Atlantic was short-lived and Sef terminated his contract, eventually signing with ROC Nation under Music Kidz (alongside brothers Shabz and K1).
With a strong connection between LBE and ROC Nation due to Shabz, Sef became MD of LBE and subsequently signed a joint venture with BMG in 2014. The following year he signed a production deal with UPPMG and has successfully signed every producer on his roster to BMG.
The roster—under the management of Sef— consisting of ADP, Alan Sampson, Arjun and Charlie Drew, have contributed to projects including Rihanna’s Towards The Sun, Krept & Konan’s Young Kingz and The Long Way Home. They have produced for artists including MIA, Craig David, Zayn Malik, Jojo, James Arthur and more.
