Afrobeats singer, David Adeleke, aka Davido, has claimed that D’banj was the first Nigerian musician to achieve global stardom.
According to him, Nigerian artists were not getting international bookings before the global success of D’banj’s 2012 hit single ‘Oliver Twist’.
Speaking in a recent interview with Apple Music, Davido said D’banj’s international success inspired a paradigm shift which led to African music gaining traction in the Western world.
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.”
While D’banj contributed to the globalisation of African music, especially Afrobeats in the early days of its exportation, many observers disagree with Davido’s claims that he was the first Nigerian musician to achieve international stardom.
Nigerian music legends such as Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Majek Fashek and hosts of others were popular on the international stage in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
2Baba, formerly known as 2Face’s hit song ‘African Queen’ had won several international awards and was used as a soundtrack of the popular American romantic comedy ‘Phat Girlz’ (2006), years before D’banj’s ‘Oliver Twist’ was released.
‘D’banj was first Nigerian artist to gain global popularity’ – Davido