A music buff and a practitioner responded to the story of Davido revealing how D’banj wanted to sign him on his label but it did not work out. This response is quite revealing of how signing of artiste was not properly structured in the music industry at the beginning when it was evolving.
Read his contribution:
The way i see it, it wasnt 2014, just a case of slip of tongue on part of Dbanj…guess maybe it was when Davido was 18 or 19.
Moreso, during the Mo-hit era, ‘signing’ any artiste was a case of oral agreement which was one of Dbanj’s biggest career mistakes: he signed everyone in the Mohits – Dr Sid, Wande Coal, D’ Prince, Kayswitch even when Don Jazzy did not really want to do so as he was skeptical of taking such risks. infact, most people didnt know that Dbanj’s mother was the most important support the Mohit crew had when Dbanj and Don Jazzy came back to Nigeria – she gave her Maryland house for the entire Mohit crew to stay pending when they hit their success because against all odds and even Dbanj’s father reluctance, she supported her son solidly in his quest for music success. Remember ‘Why Me’ Video? The Toyota Previa in that video was Dbanj’s mum car which she gave them to convey themselves around when no one else was there to support them. She was therefore the biggest investor in Mohit empire when likes of Dbanj and Don Jazzy were penniless and were even ready to sell Mohit to Storm Records for N1 million because they desperately wanted to ‘make’ it. However, their story changed forever at the Ali Baba Show of 2007!
Dbanj’s legendary status in the modern-music era of African music is beyond mere comprehension which was also sealed by MTV based award of Legendary status t him – When the likes of Tuface, Psquare, etc were still charging N50,000 to maximum of N200.000 per show, he increased the stake to N1 million or Nothing and steadily till he started charging N10 million and then music practitioners and artistes’ eyes opened
He was the first artiste to get a multi-million Naira endoresoment – Powerfist in 2006 beating Femi Kuti to same endorsement as Femi was the original artistes in PZ’s plan before going ahead to clinch Glo’s 70 million Naira deal plus a Range Rover and other entitlements
His direct and indirect impact has affected the careers of artistes like Davido, Olamide, Wizkid, Wande Coal, Naeto C, M.I Ikechukwu even the legends like Tuface and Psquare. Go ask them, the mere mention of Dbanj to most of these superstars and they tell you how Dbanj has forever affected their lives and careers (except of course forever bitter minds among them)
Although, others see it as a failed project or misadventure, Dbanj’s Good Music signing was infact the deal-breaker for new generation of music artistes – selling new new African music culture to the global market. When you hear some ‘ignoramuses’ referring to Dbanj as Kanye West houseboy, i just laugh. If only Don Jazzy could see the future…if only he could understand this bullish visionary called Dbanj, they would be conquering Africa and global market together – with Don Jazzy supplying the iconic African percussion sound and stagemaster Dbanj bringing his A-game Enigmatic prowess to the fore – with the two partners writing the names in gold forever in the history of Africa
A young African boy without any major label backing bold enough to cause disruption in the African music industry is now building his own fantastic music business structure post-Mohit to sell the addictive African sound to the global market. I am closely following on what this Dbanj will use the CREAM Platform to develop in the music world. Like he said, you never see him coming through
One word to sum Dbanj: He will never give up in his Quest to be the Coca-cola of music business and the ElChapo grandmaster of African sound movement.
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