Billboard names Akinyemi Ayinoluwa to its 2025 Top Music Lawyers List

04 June 2025 - Press release

THE REVERED NIGERIAN LAWYER REPRESENTS SOME OF THE BIGGEST AFROBEATS PRODUCERS INCLUDING MAGICSTICKS (ASAKE), RAGEE (DAVIDO), MARVEY MUSIQUE (AYRA STARR), REXXIE (BURNA BOY) AND BLAQ JERZEE (MR. EAZI)

 

Hightower Solicitors & Advocates is proud to announce that its founder and managing partner, Akinyemi Ayinoluwa, has been named to Billboard’s 2025 Top Music Lawyers list – a prestigious and landmark global recognition reserved for the most influential legal figures shaping today’s music industry. The only Nigerian lawyer featured this year, Akinyemi Ayinoluwa is celebrated for his unwavering dedication to the creative rights and economic empowerment of Africa’s behind-the-scenes music creators, particularly record producers and songwriters. This recognition underscores his 13-year journey of advocacy, education, and leadership in championing fair, forward-thinking legal frameworks across the African music ecosystem.

Ayinoluwa’s firm, Lagos-based Hightower Solicitors, is widely regarded as Africa’s premier music law firm, with an award-winning client roster that includes some of Afrobeats’ most in-demand producers: Magicsticks (Asake, Tiwa Savage), Ragee (Davido,Adekunle Gold), Damie (BNXN, Fave), Rexxie (Burna Boy, Zlatan), Blaq Jerzee (Mr Eazi, Wizkid), Masterkraft (Justin Bieber, Yemi Alade), and Marvey Muzique (Ayra Starr, Qing Madi), among others. In the past year, the firm finalized a major publishing deal between EMPIRE and Ragee, co-producer of Chris Brown’s ‘Sensational’, a 2025 Grammy Award-nominated track for Best African Music Performance. The deal, a result of months of strategic negotiation, reflects Hightower’s core mission: advocating for better representation, compensation, and visibility for behind-the-scenes creatives, and empowering African talents to build sustainable and valuable music catalogs that generate long-term wealth.

With roots as a former recording artist and songwriter, Akinyemi Ayinoluwa brings a rare mix of artistic empathy, industry insight, and legal precision to his practice. Beyond the courtroom, he invests in the future of African music through songwriting competitions across Nigeria and Ghana, mentorship initiatives for young lawyers, and advisory services for beatmakers navigating the ever-changing music industry. “This Billboard recognition is not the end,” he shares. “It’s a powerful reminder of why we began – to amplify, protect, and elevate African music creators globally. The journey continues.” With Hightower expanding its reach into South Africa and Tanzania, and with major initiatives planned for 2025, Ayinoluwa remains a leading force at the intersection of creativity, commerce, and justice on the continent, protecting creators and shaping the future of African music law with integrity, innovation, and vision.