Words by Chanelle Goddard
Whether commanding corporate boardrooms or jamming with the world’s biggest music stars, Christel Kayibi is carving out her own path – with no regrets.
Lawyers conjure up many different images. Some think of the flashy, jet-setting elites and others, busy people in wigs, muttering words very few understand. But if we had any misguided pictures of a stereotypical lawyer in mind before speaking to Christel Kayibi, we quickly sobered up. And that, might I add, is a very, very good thing.
Given her experience – and more specifically, her corporate career – you might expect a formalistic approach to conversations from Christel, with very little room for exploration or creative manoeuvring. Instead, she’s fun, unique, driven and, of course, incredibly smart. Pushing boundaries and trying new things evidently comes as second nature, and it’s no surprise her CV is ridiculously impressive.
This is a woman at the very top of her game – and luckily for you, we got a glimpse of what makes Christel Kayibi tick. We spoke about her work as a music lawyer – representing big-name artists such as Mr Eazi – her journey and what she enjoys most about her busy life.
Amplifying the emerging voices of business, style and culture.
On the subject of enjoyment, Christel loves her job – and much like others, she didn’t plan on becoming a music lawyer: “I didn’t ever think I would become a music lawyer…there was no straightforward inspiration for me. I always say it’s down to God and being at the right place at the right time.”
If she didn’t share the same feeling of destiny and inclination as other lawyers, she definitely shared the drive for hard work. At King’s College London, she didn’t really do parties. Apparently, uni’s for learning – who knew?
“It was good, I understood that I was studying law which is quite an intense course and I was living at home and still working part-time. Uni was just uni for me, I didn’t really go to any parties. I remember in my first week of uni, I didn’t really understand what you were supposed to do with your time during breaks in between lectures, so one day I went home and just slept up until my 4pm group session. I came back to my school group and everyone knew the answers apart from me because they actually studied during the breaks, and from then on I never wanted to get caught slipping. I just became a very studious person I would study up until midnight every day, I was a big nerd, I didn’t have the typical university experience.”
From there, she would start her career at a corporate law firm – a very prestigious one, too. Think tall buildings, crisp offices and huge clients – or, if it makes things simpler, Suits, only with a healthy dose of reality (so no made-up laws, then).
I didn’t ever think I would become a music lawyer, I trained at Slaughter and May so that’s how my career started, there was no straightforward inspiration for me. I always say it’s down to God and being at the right place at the right time.
For some, the jet-setting careers of corporate lawyers is the dream – and for others, a real-life nightmare to be avoided. For Christel, the stuffy confines of corporate law just didn’t work. By swapping the City for music, she found her spot. Any regrets, I asked? No, of course not.
“I have no regrets, corporate law is very elitist, so it’s about the university you go to, the law you study and the results you get – and I worked that hard to get the results that I got.”
Despite the obvious drive, undeniable talent and personal warmth, even Christel herself would admit – just as the old adage states – that it took a community (or in her case, her family) to get her where she is. It was an important point she wanted to make, and a clear demonstration of her gratitude:
“My family didn’t have a lot of money at all. I moved to the UK when I was two, I’m Congolese so my parents at the time didn’t speak English, so over here they had to start again. My mum was actually a legal secretary when she was in Congo, at one of the last Belgian law firms that still existed in the country at the time. My dad moved to the UK first, and then I moved with my mum. We were quite poor until I was about 16; my Dad studied from when I was aged five to 13, so my mum was the only breadwinner of the house, she would work two jobs. I can distinctively remember her schedule: she would wake up at 5 am, go do her morning cleaning job, get back just before we’d have to go to school, walk us to school, then she would sleep. After all of that, she’d go to her English numeracy classes, and then go to work again in the evening. I think my upbringing motivates me because I never want to be poor again, I want to make sure my parents have a good retirement because I can see how hard they worked. My mum has always been a big hustler, I remember she saved up and took us to Disneyland Paris for our first holiday when we first got our British passports. Seeing her work so hard has taught me how to be a hustler, too.”
That hustling spirit and relentless work ethic means that, although she’s achieved what most people would consider success, Christel still thinks there’s more to do. With her work in music, the stage is set for her big performance.
And why does she enjoy her job so much? Simple, really. In music, diversity of thought, cultures and people – as she says – prevails.
“In music, there’s a lot of diversity. Diversity of thought, diversity of culture and diversity of creativity. I mean, I’m a lawyer, so I’m not in the most creative sector, but I’m also in A&R meaning that I can be creative. I focus a lot more on Africa, but being on a UK label (Sony) you still have to focus on UK music, too, but there’s still that kind of freedom to focus on what I like. Music is fun, obviously. Covid has changed it a bit, because you feel more like an office worker, but when the outside is open and you’re going to parties, album launches and Wireless, that’s when you actually enjoy the perks of working in music.”
Parties, album launches and Wireless… as perks of the job. Not jealous, not jealous at all. But, of course, being a Black woman in law has its own challenges – the profession, let’s say, still has some work to do on the diversity front. So, in swapping the City for music – even if her work remained as a lawyer – Christel found her spot, a place where working to fit in was less of an issue.
What was it like, being a Black female lawyer in the City? The same struggles, she says, as you might find being a black woman anywhere. “Underrepresentation, micro-aggressions, no one actually caring that you’re not interested in what they are interested in.” Whilst Suits – with its endless movie references and friendly offers to go mudding – might paint a pretty picture of corporate law, reality – in some firms – can be different. “In the corporate world, there’s always that type of boys’ club culture. So, the people there were mainly interested in football, rugby and going to the pub, and I was not interested in any of that,” she says.
“The same struggles you get being a black woman anywhere – underrepresentation, micro-aggressions, no one actually caring that you’re not interested in what they are interested in.”
But much more than the lack of diversity – and the prevalence of the boys’ club – Christel didn’t much feel like sticking around, given her interest in broadening her wings and seeing what else was out there, particularly in Africa. “Especially when I was starting to realise I was quite interested in Africa, I felt even more isolated in terms of I’m not even interested in practising law in the UK, and I’m not interested in practical law just confined to UK corporates. Being at that type of law firm, I didn’t feel like I fit in. They were never going to let me fit in and it was fine because I didn’t want to fit in – and now I’m in music, I do fit in.”
On whether she’d like to see more females make it in the law game, Christel is well-aware of the importance of diversity in the workplace. “Of course, I think that kind of representation is key, so other people can see that black women can do it. I don’t remember meeting any black female corporate lawyers when I was trying to become a one. Representation matters, it also just makes your working environment better.”
And what about her role as global legal counsel to none other than Mr Eazi? Well, it sounds like a business relationship that got off on the best foot possible. “With Eazi, I actually knew his DJ. My friend Naija Boy used to DJ for Fuse ODG, and I met him in 2015 at an afro-beat karaoke night in Shoreditch. I think we actually had a dance-off. When I moved to Ghana in 2016, Naija Boy called me and said Mr Eazi needs a lawyer and asked if I could help him.” It seems like her dance moves left an impression, then.
At the time, though, Christel wasn’t yet in the music game. “I said [to Fuse ODG], ‘but I’m not a music lawyer,’ and he came back and said ‘but you’re still a lawyer, so just speak to him and see how you can help.’ So, I ended up meeting Eazi after one of his shows, and he shared with me what he wanted to do in music and his long-term view of being a businessman. Two-three weeks after that, I got a call again from Naija Boy, and suddenly I was back in London with Mr Eazi having another meeting – and we just started working together from there.”
“For me,” Christel says, “it was just about having good friends that could kind of plug me in, that’s how I met quite a lot of people, as well. I’m very bubbly, so I just like talking and making new friends, not with the intentions of business at all. And it’s funny because, in music, you never know where a person could be in five years – time let alone one.”
Naturally, we couldn’t let Christel leave without picking her brains for words of wisdom to not only the young inspiring lawyers of the world, but to anyone trying to find their feet in their career. “Don’t be scared to reinvent yourself. I came from corporate law and I’m a music lawyer, and who knows where I’m going to go next. Sometimes, as a child when you’re asked ‘what do you wanna do?’, you think it can only be this one thing you’re going to do for the rest of your life. But you never know how you can reinvent yourself. It’s about understanding what transferable skills you have, understanding your network, understanding what value you bring and how you can put all that into a new career.”
If those careers are half as fruitful as Christel Kayibi’s, then those are wise words, indeed.
Enjoy this interview? Check out our thoughts on the importance of Suits’ Jessica Pearson.