When it comes to the Nigeria music scene Dbanj needs no introduction, he is one of the pioneers in giving afrobeat a name, a dropped-out chemical engineering student at the university of Lagos who to further his studies in the UK on arriving in the UK in 2001, he met Don Jazzy who was trying for a breakthrough as a songwriter and producer.
D’Banj started hanging around the studio, making ends meet while working as a security guard.
Don Jazzy told Kokomaster he thought he was a star in the making, and sensing that the music scene in Nigeria was “blossoming”, the pair returned to Lagos in 2005. And together to form a music powerhouse called Mohits records, That same year came the single “Tongolo”; the video was paid for by D’Banj’s mother.
It became an instant hit, and gained wide acclaim across the country. In June 2011, D’banj has signed to Kanye West G.O.O.D His first endorsement was with an energy drink called Power Fist
The Dark Days of Dbanj
After several months of speculation and wild rumors, ace producer, and label co-founder Don Jazzy confirmed via his Twitter account the break-up of Mo’Hits.
After the breakup, Don Jazzy, D’Prince, Dr SID, Wande Coal started Mavin Records
While Dbanj launched his record label, DB records, in 2012, after leaving the defunct Mo-hits Records, He signed his younger brother, KaySwitch, alongside two producers, Jaysleek and Deevee. He later signed brothers, MossKriss, and Ralph Kriss, and the popular nollywood diva, Tonto Dikeh.
The news of Tonto Dikeh’s signing to the record label was welcomed with mixed reactions as some people felt she was not recruited for her musical dexterity, but as a PR stunt for the record label.
The Success of DB Records
Dbanj Records was founded in 2012 housing Superstars like D’Banj himself, and a group of young successful music stars, Kay Switch, Jay Sleek, Dee Vee, Jsoul, and Tontolet,
The label was successfully built on the platform of the strong profiles of its founder who was one of the strongest players in the Nigerian Music Industry but sadly the label failed.
Releasing from Good Music
Dbanj who was signed by Kanye to Good music in June 2011 was In September 2016, announced to release from the GOOD Music label. At this point, we thought Dbanj would focus more on this label to give us something iconic but that never happened
We can clearly say DB music did not do so well I mean it never gets to the standard we hoped for despite a record label warehousing an A-list artist like Dbanj, at this point, one can boldly say it’s not just okay to start a record label if you have the resources, it should be, whether you have the right and required skill-sets to run it.
Got what it takes to make it successful?
The inability to answer this question by label owners has left their label lifecut short.
The Death of His son
Daniel Oyebanjo was born in May 2017 but sadly the child drowned in June 2018 at this point many sympathizes with the Koko master over the loss of his dear son
The controversies
D’banj, has his own fair share of controversies. In June 2020, he was entangled in a messy drama involving the alleged rape of a lady in 2018.
In the wake of a series of allegations of rape, A Nigerian model scout, Benjamin Ese, had alleged that D’banj raped his friend on December 31, 2018, at a hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos. he claimed D’banj had raped Seyitan, (who is a friend of his), years ago in a hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, after she refused his advances at a party
According to him, his friend was forced to share her story after the Kokomaster joined in preaching against rape on his Instagram page as follows: “#NoMeansNo.
Mehh another big blow in a form of an allegation to the Koko master powerhouse
Being the strong man that he is, he was able to settle the situation.
Fraud Case
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission has arrested and detained Afro-Pop maestro, D’banj, over the alleged fund diversion of millions of N-Power funds to the toon of 100m in collaboration with some government officials
The multiple-award-winning singer was arrested and detained Tuesday after ICPC operatives reportedly forced him to surrender himself at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
The reports alleged that D’banj allegedly conspired with some government officials to engage ghost beneficiaries in the N-Power payment scheme with funds meant for beneficiaries being traced to accounts linked to D’banj.
According to the information making the rounds, D’banj was subjected to a prolonged interrogation and was detained after a plea for administrative bail was rejected by officials of the ICPC.
We also gather that the anti-graft agency may charge D’banj to court over alleged fraud and diversion of funds to the toon of 100m after concluding the investigation of the matter
At this point, we don’t know if he is guilty or not but for now, we leave it for the law to demine.
What is your thought on this in the comment
