"The test of time shows that he had a freaking secret formula that nobody has been able to emulate. Even today the music just blows you away."
Kayibi will look for investments and deals in both Anglophone and Francophone Africa.
The new label's first release arrives this week, with FMU also dropping the debut album from Wonderland's Whyte Fang project this March.
Ethiopia Habtemariam oversaw the best period for the storied label in years. With her impending departure, questions for the future remain.
"It helped pull us out of the disco days and it became a whole new world," says one former Epic Records exec of the landmark album.
This move, says PIAS Group co-founder Kenny Gates, “makes us stronger."
The deal expands on an earlier partnership between the two that involved the [PIAS] distribution wing [Integral].
The respected label and publishing executive leaves after two decades at parent company Universal Music Group.
Pico Cibelli spent more than a decade at Sony Music Italy and another 10 years at Universal Music.
WMG's newest CEO, YouTube veteran Robert Kyncl, joins the company on Jan. 1
