For 20 straight years, Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo aka D’Banj has remained a recurring decimal on the Nigerian entertainment scene as one of its highly successful practitioners.
His trade is music. And his career kicked off in London when he had a stint with the JJC Crew and 419 squad but didn’t blossom until his return to Nigeria at the age of 22 years when his monster hit single, Tongolo, ignited a new spark on the music scene.
D’Banj teamed up with Collins Ajereh aka Don Jazzy to form Mo’Hits records and went on to become the first signee on the label. His success as a singer and entertainer saw the defunct record label signing more music acts that included his younger brother, K-Switch, Don Jazzy’s younger brother, D’Prince, the incredibly talented Wande Coal, and rapper cum singer, Dr Sid.
In five years, D’Banj became the posterboy of the Nigerian music industry, he hobnobbed with the high and mighty and his popularity grew across Africa. He was dubbed the Koko master and his legend was spoken across the world with Kokolets and Mamalets never getting tired of his musical escapades.
To cap his musical success, D’Banj met and recorded songs with American famous rappers, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West with whom he got signed on his GOOD Music records. Though Mo-Hits suffered the decision greatly, it also strained the relationship D’Banj and his erstwhile partner, Don Jazzy once shared.
However, D’Banj admitted his imperfection and apologised to everyone he has ever wronged, noting that he is ‘is grateful for everything that went right and those that went wrong.’
“When I look back at my journey as your favourite entertainer, many names pop up in my mind for their various contributions to D’banj. Today, I celebrate Mo’ Hits – the group and our team.
“What a solid team we had. Don Jazzy, Wande Coal, Dr. Sid, D’Prince and Kay Switch. My brothers were piping hot! Together we elevated this game and showed them things that could happen. I’ve spent many years focusing on the blame game but I’m not playing that game anymore. If you feel I wronged you at any time, forgive me,” he wrote on X.
Traversing different entertainment paths as a thorough entertainer in 20 years, and mending fences, one can rightly say D’Banj has been there and done that.
Hence, it was, indeed, no surprise when the 44-year-old singer and entertainer teamed up with Idris Olorunnimbe’s Temple Management Company and Ogidi Studios to celebrate his 20-year-long musical career with a list of activities that kicked off on Friday, June 8, 2024.
A horde of Nigerian celebrities, dignitaries and notable personalities from the diplomatic community gathered together at the Knowhere restaurant on Victoria Island, Lagos in honour of the accomplished singer and record label executive.
The event had D’Banj’s parents and wife in attendance as well as several celebrities from the film and music industry including Funke Akindele, Bovi, Spyro, Keke Ogungbe, Dayo Adeneye, ID Ogungbe, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, Ayo Animashaun, Mr Macaroni, Tobi Bakre, Femi Kuti and son, Made Kuti, Funke Kuti, Yeni Kuti, Ini Edo, Olumide Ogunade, aka ID Cabasa and several others.
After entertaining fans around the world, the event, which was well planned and executed by Temple Management company, had D’Banj sitting down to watch as tributes and accolades pour in from various individuals, whom he had touched over the years, come across and has been part of his illustrious career in the last two decades.
The classy evening saw Funke Akindele showering accolades and prayers on D’Banj while Bovi took turns in reeling out some of the best jokes on D’Banj and his entire career.
Another highlight of the event was when organisers exhibited some of D’Banj’s awards which included the Mobo Award, Headies Award, BET award and more. The gallery took all attendees down memory lane while Ayo Animashaun, owner of Smooth productions and organiser of Headies award gave a moving tribute about D’Banj before presenting to him a gigantic Headies gong to celebrate his contribution to the Nigerian entertainment industry in the last 20 years.
The train of activities lined up for the celebration moved to the 2000 capacity Afrikan Shrine where D’Banj performed to the delight of a filled venue.
It was a Tuesday, June 11 and D’Banj gave what will, for long, be considered one of his best performances ever. He sang with his heart and left attendees asking for more. He was the darling of every one and he couldn’t help but get support from his sidekicks, K-Switch and Jimmy.
In his words after the show, D’Banj admitted he gave one of his best performances saying, “Last night hit different, huge thanks to everyone who came out,”
