D'banj was the guest on the latest edition of the TRUTH with Olisa Adibua and he came prepared to share his truth with who ever was listening. He started by talking about how he was born in Zaria and grew in a military background, and how finding his late brother's harmonica started him on the journey that has brought him to this point.
"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.
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 went on to how he met Don Jazzy, their move from the UK to Nigeria, meeting Kanye in Dubai and signing a contract with Good Music.
"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…"
On what made him break up with Mohits:
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.
The Kanye West Deal:
"I got an artiste deal. I got a standard 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.
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.
OK, so 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….
The part that Dr. Sid played;
"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 - “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 - 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.
Well, the ball is now in the court for Mavin crew, or more specifically, Don Jazzy and Dr. Sid.
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