So, D’banj was the guest on the latest edition of the TRUTH with Olisa and oh boy, did he reveal much? Yes he said everything.
He revealed he was born in Zaria and grew in a military background.
“I am an all round Nigerian, I travelled from Zaria to Kaduna to Jos…and here i am in Lagos.
Schooling: I schooled in the Nigerian Military School in Zaria….tertiary education was in LASU.
Nigerian Army: I wanted to be in the army but when i lost my bro in 1993, i couldn’t deal with it.
Brother’s Death: He (Femi Oyebanjo) died in a plane crash, was the
first person to come out but he went back to help others and he died of
suffocation….While checking the property he left behind, the
very thing i found most useful was an Harmony, so I picked the harmony
from his belongings and started playing it.”
Then he met Don Jazzy “While working on the music thingy, i met master
plan in the UK, who further introduced me to Don Jazzy, they already had
everything, so i was just there to do anything, to even make them laugh
sef, they would call me and say, call D’banj come and make let us
laugh.
We bonded before we left the UK because Jazzy fell out with his partnership with JJC.
Because I was privileged to be his friend to know what had happened and what was happening back home, Rugged
man had reached out to me once and told me the kind of money they were
collecting,which when I converted it it was like 1,800 pounds or $2,000
per show and I was like what!!! The people making it in the industry
were styl-plus,2face’s plantashun boys.
So,before we even did anything, we listened to what they were playing
in Nigeria.Jazzy was fond of that ..Oh boy this one don dey make money
oh..(we listen)..We listened to music of everyone making money ..So
when I found out he had major issues with JJC , I said “Oh boy,lets go
back home”.
So we came back, my parents were here. By then he had moved all his family
over there.We came back in 2004 and moved straight into my mum’s boys
quarters in Maryland(Lagos).We got a first car,Toyota Privera from her
..We said we will pay her later…..and we paid her for it eventually.We
got Tongolo,the first video and released it in November, just before Christmas and that was it…”
Quitting Mohits bla bla: What made me? (shocked
expression) You guys have not spoken to Jazzy? Jazzy. Tell them the
truth mehn.. Come and tell them these people the truth.. What broke
Mo’Hits.. Hmmn Difference of opinion.. First of all it wasn’t me. We had
travelled and left Don Jazzy in New York with some of the management team because he had a production deal. We were trying to go global.. I would love if you had the Truth from Jazzy too, it would have
been better I met Kanye West, but you all know I am a businessman. But
there were two different deals. One he saw I was an artiste and he
wanted to sign that artiste. Then this artist said “I have a producer.
We have the best thing coming from Africa… And he was sold. And then we
flew to New York.
artiste deal because Kanye wanted to sign me as an artiste. Then I said
nooo.. I’m a businessman. I have a record label can do partnership. It
was a partnership between Mo’Hits Record, Good Music and Def Jam
records. It wasn’t going to be D’banj and Don Jazzy. I was just the
first part of the deal. There was also a production deal because Kanye
loved Jazzy’s sound.
Don Jazzy pulled out: On why Jazzy pulled out – He saw the
big picture but some people are real. You can force a horse to a river,
but you can’t force it to drink water.
What really caused the split: Eh first person if I will be
truthful will be Dr Sid (laughs). We came back from New York and had a
meeting with Don Jazzy and Jazzy expressed his discomfort like listen,
this place is too expensive, we are spending money. Going to stay there,
things dey happen for Nigeria, we are already bosses here… We don’t
need all this.. I’m like we are almost there. It is expensive but we
can’t guarantee because its a doggy world out there. I said to him,
listen brother, this is not uncertainty. For Kanye West to see us, na
God.. and he said he didn’t want us to do it again ..He wasn’t
interested… But I told him because I had sensed it before the last
concert we had. I told the lawyers in New York. They were trying to get
him to come around but he didn’t. So we had that meeting and he said he
didn’t want me as a partner again. That there was a lot ..I told him to
give me 6 months..to convince him again..maybe to sell my share to
someone else, take the money to go and try again ..I saw it wasn’t
working and he formed a synergy
with SID. It was clear. He wasn’t comfortable around me…My mistake was, I
wasn’t sensitive enough to have noticed… So December 2011, during a
general meeting after 6 months, he said he had thought about it and
wasn’t interested…Infact, not just him..That this one is not interested,
this one is not interested (Mo’Hits members)..I said ah! I was
heartbroken. K-Switch is my brother..But the truth? K-Switch was
with them…my People were not comfortable with me again…Now I look at it,
maybe I did change…We all changed ..It wasn’t money…It was because we
ran Mo’Hits Record like a family. That’s why we failed….
Then the best part….he talked about his serious ish with DR Sid!
“He was jealous, he felt i was overshadowing his
glory, i would give you an exclusive tape to play now. In the tape he
said the light is too much that he overshadows.
And then a tape was played of DR Sid shouting on Dbanj while in the misdt of Davido and a few other music stars years ago.
DR Sid in the tape said “Why don’t know people my name, good it is
because your brand and you star is too it is a big…and its
overshadowing….
Davido’s voice: Guy it is not that D’banj can help anybody, like if
Lil Wayne calls me, I’ll surely go and meet him, if not for D’banj,
nobody would have looked at Wande, am i lying
DR Sid: Mehn I don’t know….Tanzania and Nairobi, who will they call?
It’s Dbanj obviously..Dbanj did more negative than positive for my
career song.
You can watch video (HERE).