Afrobeats artist, David Adeleke known as Davido, stated that D’banj was the pioneer Nigerian musician to achieve worldwide fame.
He mentioned that before D’banj’s hit single ‘Oliver Twist’ in 2012, Nigerian artists were not securing international bookings.
In an interview with Apple Music, Davido highlighted that D’banj’s global success sparked a change that propelled African music into the Western music scene.
He said, “D’banj was my first vision of a Nigerian artist taking over the world. No one in America was booking Nigerian artists for shows but that changed when I saw Kanye West in D’banj’s ‘Oliver Twist’ video on YouTube.
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“It was because of the success of ‘Oliver Twist’ that Americans started booking D’banj, 2Face, P-Square, and other African artists for shows. They were making about $1,000,000 per show. So I decided to switch and start doing African music because that’s where I am from.”
While D’banj played a role in popularizing African music globally, particularly Afrobeats during its early exportation phase, there are differing opinions from various observers regarding Davido’s assertion that he was the initial Nigerian musician to attain international fame.
Nigerian music legends like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, King Sunny Ade, and Majek Fashek gained international recognition in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
Additionally, 2Baba, formerly known as 2Face, achieved international success with his hit song ‘African Queen,’ winning multiple global awards and featuring in the soundtrack of the popular American romantic comedy ‘Phat Girlz’ in 2006, years before D’banj’s ‘Oliver Twist’ hit the scene.
