Nigeria’s pop star, D’banj, in an interactive
session with selected journalists including a
issues including his upcoming album, his
agriculture business and when he will get
married.
D’banj with former business partner, Don Jazzy
At MAMA Awards recently
Let’s start with celebrating your birthday – 35
years – how does that make you feel?
To be 35 and for what God is doing in my own
life, I feel so happy. If I can remember this my
first birthday I have celebrated. I am not used to
celebrating, except for people who throw me
surprise birthdays. Every day is like Christmas for
us, every day is like birthday for us. When it’s
come to my own kind of brand, what I do for a
living, I have fun.
I get paid for what people do to relax. So you
have a long whole semester in school, you want
to go on break, you look forward to the Koko
Consult, look forward to this entertainment show,
that is how we get our money. I have been doing
that for over a decade now. So my kind of nature
has not made it possible for us to sit down and
enjoy. In doing that now So much has happened
in 10 years, 11 years since I started in the music
industry. I released Tongolo when I was 24, now I
am 35.
Tongolo was your first official song…
Yes, before that was Mobolowowon, which was in
the same album. In short, it was done at the
same time. Mobolowowon was accepted by the
UK people because of the story. So, when we
came to Nigeria, we thought it was the
Mobolowowon that would be accepted but then it
was Tongolo that was accepted by the Nigerians.
Do you feel fulfilled with what you have
achieved at 35? Are these the goals you set
out for yourself and how do you measure your
success?
What God has done is tremendous and it’s
beyond my wildest dreams even though some
have not materialised. The main one is marriage. I
would have thought that I would have had a child
before 30. I always wanted a child before 30. I
wanted to make sure that the foundation was very
strong and the direction in which we were going
because as you said as a child you crawl, you
walk. So I wanted to make sure I pass all those
places work-wise and focus on my family. Apart
from that one, the other thing is the Grammys. I
think Grammy is already in the plan.
I didn’t know I will meet Kanye West. I was
dreaming, I dreamt that I want to go to places and
hear my song among white people. I have dreamt
to chart across the world and all that has
happened. I have dreamt to perform in the front
of thousands of people on a global stage and all
that has happened as months ago I was on a
global stage.
Read also:OLAMIDE;THE YBNL BOSS SAYS
HE MIGHT NOT MARRY BABY
MAMA
What are the new goals you are setting for
yourself and what are the things you used to
do and hope to discontinue?
For me, it is not about the age I have been
exposed to a lot of things much larger, things
much higher than my age. Since the earlier time
I have known the brand, I have been taught to
give what belong to Caesar to Caesar. That’s
why when some people meet me they said you
are so playful outside but calm inside and that’s
because the showbiz knows when to give it up.
Because it’s showbiz, I won’t say I have grown
out of anything. My music and lifestyle revolves
with my age with time. I think it’s just happened
that I find myself in the last two years in the
more corporate side of things in the more
humanitarian side of things, more giving back in
the more standing as a brand because I have
been in the more business side of things.
Let’s talk about the tenth anniversary album
and its promotion.
This year I had thought that by the first six
months, I would have touched everywhere. We
have Dubai, London, American, Switzerland, DC.
I just wanted to touch everywhere but then the
global show in April 2 and more importantly the
plan I had for the album, the 10 th anniversary
album, was to plan and promote the
singles within the first six months.
So one of the songs that was not scheduled to
come out leaked last year- Feeling the Ni**a-
which I am glad we released because when it
was released a lot of people got confused
saying it wasn’t mine.
Officially, that was not supposed to be the first
single from the 10 th anniversary but because of
what happened the song is everywhere. So, I
see my people and they are saying give us more
and I see that taste. That proved something to
me that my fans are still very hungry. Some
people are thinking that Dbanj is famzing now
he doesn’t even sing again because the brand
is so active. It is good that we had that feeling
filled because that made me restructure the
album.
A lot of people have criticised how you are
promoting the album.
Most people… I think you need to understand
this depends on the stage. The good thing
about it is that I am looking at it globally. The
box is beyond Nigeria alone. You know, if you
are global you need to think of the others but I
am thinking of Nigeria, Africa because a lot of
interviews have been lined up. We will be able
to go everywhere because more importantly, I
am partnering with people. I cannot talk about
them due to confidential purposes. We will have
serious promotions that will involve the my
fans.
Is there any international artist on the album
apart from Akon?
There is more than one; I won’t mention them,
let (fans) go and buy the album. The album
comes out in September – D’Banj, The Epic
Journey. The EP (was) like an introduction to
the entire album.
How many songs will you have on the album?
I don’t know but if left for me I will do 10, 11. I
have so much fans right now that we are even
pressured to release a double album in
September. When we were touring, especially
outside Africa, a whole lot of people knew Oliver
Twist, Fall In Love, Igwe, Olurun Ma Je, even
when they don’t even know that you are the one
that released them. So why not re-release your
greatest hits so we can know that it’s for the
global world and for Africa. September; I don’t
know, but the album, ten minimum songs and
the greatest hits and luckily, for me it’s might
be a visual. Most of the music they said they
want has a video; Igwe has a video, Olorun Ma
Je has a video.
Let’s talk about the artists on your label:
Tonto and 2Kriss; what do you have for them?
There were a lot of people that were biased
about my comeback. I knew there were a lot of
misconception for not being around for that last
one and the half years; people not having the
right people to speak to had misinterpreted or
miscommunicated my actions, my record.
K-switch has already inherited that. Right now, I
am telling one record label to come and take K-
switch because people just victimise the guy
cos he’s D’banj’s brother. But we are working
on. For the rest, I didn’t want them to be
affected by the same thing. Tonto and (2Kriss)
dropped singles so we could see how the
people would to react to it. While we are doing
that, we are clearing the grounds for D’banj for
the fact that people had a lot of speculations,
people want to talk so let us make sure that the
air is settled. Now, I have done what I need to
do and the whole world has seen that we are
not in any competition with anyone.
So you won’t sign new artists?
No, not for now. I can never say never because
a lot of things happen. Some people said you
didn’t sign Oriste Femi, sign him na. There is
no need because globally record labels are
dying most importantly what you should have is
distribution. Distribution, the right organisation
to take care and manage a brand that is what
am building on. My empire is based on that and
I own one of the biggest distribution companies;
I even distribute for people In Nigeria. We are
planning to expand globally. Abroad, the people
that distribute are the people that sell, manage
and brand development. That is what my
company is doing even for Oriste Femi even
though he is not signed to my label. Once that
is done in Africa, that is what we are working
on.
You said Don Jazzy was going to work on
your 10th anniversary album…
It’s a present continuous tense. It’s been done.
You have to first find the songs of Don Jazzy
that no one has heard that we even have before.
I will love a Don Jazzy track on it. It might be
one or two but it will be there if it’s a good
work. But I don’t know if it’s going to be a very
new one; we will have to go to the studio and
do one now.
So, you have not done new ones?
No.
But you have songs produced by Don Jazzy
that can be on this album?
Not yet.
Why agriculture; why not IT, hotels or
something else?
I believe that nothing is coincidental in life so
when I approached my people to do something
they agreed. I have always known that i am here
for a course, I am here for a purpose; I am a
chosen lucky person by God that knows that
things should happen the way they should
happen. My timing was different everything was
different and they told me about it, they told me
this is what we want to do and they said every
time there is a course we look for youths and
you are a successful youth.
If 60% of the farmers we have are small scale
farmers and this is what they contribute to the
world produce other than the big people and it
has been proven by my research that the
amount of irregular cultivated land available in
the world in the next future is available in Africa.
There is need for us to focus on it and let our
youth know about it because right now,
everybody wants to be a musician, footballer, an
IT person, social media or media. Then when
we have 5000 youths and we can take it to all
the African presidents -“increase the budget of
agricultural. You said you will do this at the
African union.” All the presidents came together
and they said they would put 10% of our
annual budget into it. We had over 2.something
million youths so in four months we had created
a lot that our own president our own minister of
agriculture everybody were interested.
I am so successful and these are the things
that make me say God has given me a voice. So
this was what I went to talk about in the World
Bank meeting. I went last year and I spoke for
seven minutes and it was how youths should
change and address possible change in
agriculture so that people can believe in
themselves; and lucky for us, the brand name
has been a name for us. So, we have different
Koko products. Last year was the perfect time
for me to go into it and when I presented it to
Dangote, he said, “Why garri? Nobody has
thought of it.” So I knew I was on the right
path.
No comments:
Post a Comment