Jonathan Nwokpor
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According to afrobeats musician David Adeleke, better known by his stage name Davido, D’banj was the first Nigerian musician to become internationally famous.
Before D’banj’s 2012 hit track “Oliver Twist” became a global phenomenon, he claimed, Nigerian artists were not obtaining international gigs.
Davido stated in a recent interview with Apple Music that D’banj’s global success spurred a paradigm change that helped African music gain popularity in the West.
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.
“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.”
Davido claims to be the first Nigerian musician to become internationally famous, although many observers disagree, citing D’banj’s contribution to the globalisation of African music, particularly Afrobeats in the early days of its exportation.
Legends in Nigerian music, like Majek Fashek, King Sunny Ade, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and others, were well-known on the international stage in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
Years before D’banj’s “Oliver Twist” was published, in 2006, the hit song “African Queen,” by 2Baba, formerly known as 2Face, won multiple international awards and was featured on the soundtrack of the well-liked American romantic comedy “Phat Girlz.”
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