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On April 21, 2012, at the Choice FM
studio in London, D’Banj finally decided to sit down for hisfirst
interview since the Mo’Hits Crew had a major squabble.
He talks about how they got the deal with Kanye West:
‘I
pulled up with my entourage at the Emirates first class lounge in
Dubai. We were returning from Scott Tommey’s birthday. I came down with
Bankuli, my P.A. Chuchu, and my business manager Chidi. My entourage was
large and I was looking fly. One of the hostesses ran to me with a
Kanye West placard. I said I’m not Kanye o – then I told my guys ‘Kanye
is around so no dulling.’ Chuchu and Bankuli spotted Kanye walking in to
check in. They went to him and he said we could come over’.
‘As
they came, I had my iPad with me, and my headphones. First thing Kanye
said was ‘I like your T-shirt’. I wore a Zara T-shirt and a D&G
ring. He liked my appearance and said he’d give me 5 minutes. I told him
‘I played with you in Nigeria during NB PLC Star Megajam. I’ve done a
song with Snoop and we’re going to shoot the video now. I’d like to play
you my songs.’ I played Oliver, Scapegoat and Fall in love. He was
dancing. He removed the headphones and said ‘I don’t mean to sound rude,
but if anyone has to bring you out in the states, it has to be me, not
Snoop. He asked when I was going to be in the US, and I told him I was
going there that day. Then he asked who my producer was, and I said Don
Jazzy. He said ‘come with him.’
So, on getting to New York three
months later, contacting Kanye West was extremely difficult after
sending several mails to several different e-mail addresses.
Then
we met someone that knew someone that knew another someone and we got
another email address. We sent several messages again, no response. Then
Bankuli sent a final one saying, ‘we have been in New York for some
time and sent several emails. We have waited long enough and are now on
our way to do the Snoop Dogg Video’
And then the reply came. ‘Sorry to have overlooked your earlier emails. Mr. Kanye would like to meet with you tomorrow.’
‘We
didn’t believe it. Don Jazzy, who had been reluctant all along, still
did not believe it. Even when we got there (Wyclef’s studio) the next
day, he stood outside. When Kanye came I went to call him ‘Oya come now,
come play am the music now’. It was difficult to believe it was real
and it was happening. Then when Kanye came in, with the GOOD music acts,
I was like, ‘wow’.
From there, everything was moving at
lightning speed and all the contracts were signed and the more business
and administrative side of things was being handled. As this was going
on, D’Banj had bigger things in mind and opted for a joint venture
agreement structured to guarantee that: he retain full control of his
materials in Africa; Don Jazzy be signed on board (on behalf on Mohits
USA), and finally, that he brings the Universal/Def Jam imprint to
Africa. He goes on to say:
‘I’ve always thought of how I can be a
useful vessel to the industry. A friend and colleague always says to
me: ‘D’banj, you’re the Jesus Christ of the industry.’ So having ran
Mohits for nine years, I already had plans of how we could blow Mohits
up. I had plans of expanding, and most especially, bringing hope to that
11 year-old kid somewhere in Africa who may never have had the
opportunity to get signed to major labels’.
‘So it was not really
just about me. There’s a big market in Africa. I said to them, ‘I’ve
sold millions of records in Africa, we’ve done millions of hits with
CRBT, and I’ve run the most successful label on the continent. You take
care of the US, but let me take you to Africa.‘ And I’m happy to tell
you that we’re doing that D’banj’s album will be the first under
Universal/Def Jam Africa, and we’re already putting all the structures
in place’
And apparently, that’s were the tumult with Don Jazzy
arose. He goes on to talk about how the information contained in the
leaked e-mails holds facts and truth and further talks about at what
expense he went through to try to smooth all discrepancies between him
and his ‘brother’.
He continues to talk about how the
relationship between Don Jazzy and he started and now that the two have
gone their separate ways, using marriage as a metaphor, how he feels:
‘Asking
me if I’m lonely because Wande or Jazzy has left me is like asking my
first sister if she’s lonely now – she has two kids now, lives in
Canada. Don Jazzy is still my brother – we just had to move on. We’ll
still work together in future, same with my boys. In fact, just this
week, he sent me the remix to Oliver Twist that we’re releasing in the
UK on May 14. All the interviews I’ve had here, I kept hyping him. It’s
already in my system – you know me, I’m a one-way soldier. Jazzy is a
very quiet person. Loyalty is key. My loyalty still lies in the
friendship I had with him. He was cheated by JJC, and I was present. I
swore never to cheat him. But I’d like to think our visions became
different.
‘It was clear when we met that Jazzy wanted to be the
biggest producer, I wanted to be the biggest African entertainer, not
the biggest singer. I had my mind on money. In order to say I’m the
biggest, I had to be the richest. So for a very long time, he was on the
back end. He respected my act, I respected his music judgment. Every
meeting that brought us money I went for. I’d say I need to confirm from
Don Jazzy because that was the agreement, even though I knew it was my
decision. First Glo deal was $500,000. That Landcruiser jeep was because
of my demands. It was because of the skill and exposure that I used to
bargain. I’m a businessman’
‘People say I’m less talented, I was
known as a jester in the JJC squad. I’d make everyone happy and play the
mouth organ, but I knew what I wanted. I decided to give Don Jazzy
power in 2007 when we realized that after four years, they did not
recognize us as a record label. We had signed artistes and done all this
work. So we restructured, and restrategized. So I told him to chill, so
he can be more respected and be the don. I’m older than him by one
year, yet I respected him like a don. I remember when he came out at Ali
Baba show, I knelt down for him, so people would say he’s the baba. All
the talking in my ears and all, it was an arrangement. All the
Soundcity advert and all, he did not tell me anything. It was all an
arrangement.’
So Ayeni goes on to ask:
The perception is
that you’ve become arrogant, unreachable, proud. You’re not the D’banj
we used to know; not the D’banj I used to know – and most people in the
media will say this is true
‘Obviously people will say stuff –
but this is me. I can’t keep up with everyone, no matter how much I try.
But I understand where I’m coming from. I cant forget my roots – all
the interviews I had yesterday, I was ‘bigging up’ DJ Abass, he gave me
my first show in London. You saw me giving Jazzy props in my interview
earlier. That’s me. If I was arrogant I wouldn’t have been the one even
chasing Jazzy around since he told me last July that he wanted to
scatter Mo’Hits. Last time I saw him was on February 19 at Irving Plaza.
He didn’t support the show, and he only came on stage when Sid and
Wande were performing. I wanted peace.
And even my mom, who had
supported us from beginning, who gave us the house we stayed in (in
Michael Otedola estate, Lagos), the Previa bus we used and paid for
Tongolo video, spoke to his parents last December; ‘this is what your
son said o’. I remember my mom saying to me, ‘if you guys have been
together all these years, and no wahala, then if you need to part, I
hope there’ll be no wahala.’ She was very particular about that. I had
enough proof to have come out and speak; this thing has been on for a
long time, and we’re in April now. But I don’t want to cause any wahala.
I don’t want to spoil anything. I don’t want trouble. Right now, I just
want to be able to move on and do my business.’
‘The signing
(away of my shares in Mo’Hits) was already being discussed before April
16. If I kept quiet from January till now, what would it benefit me to
leak anything? Remember all the stuff about my password and all? We know
where that was from, I really wouldn’t want to think it was from him,
my brother, but it could be from anywhere, but I don’t want to call
anyone’s name’
But were the emails forged?
‘Everything in
those emails were facts. And I don’t even think the mails favoured me in
any way. It’s not the exact mails that were sent and signed, but there
were elements of truth in the mails that were published.’
Why did you tell Ebony you own Mohits?
‘My
mom advised me not to speak. And the interviewer took it out of
context. I co-owned Mohits. We registered the business in 2004, and we
owned it 50:50. So I spoke about that, but the interviewer took it wrong
and the fans put pressure on them and they corrected it.
This is
just a tip of the iceberg of everything D’Banj had to say. He further
went on to talk about issues regarding his former label mates, Dr. Sid,
Wande Coal and D’Prince; how much he spent in order to placate and
smooth out communicative and goal-oriented discrepancies; his Sahara
Reporters interview; his deal with Mercury Records and so much more.
So,
it seems the falling out bore fruit when D’Banj wanted to juggle
dreams, goals and affiliations that Don Jazzy was reluctant to and was
plain just not yet ready for. A Lot of unanswered questions still hang
in the balance and a lot of people have already picked sides but, as
Ayeni unwittingly said:
” Should one man sacrifice the wishes of
the collective on the altar of ambition and material wealth? But then,
what should be expected of the man whose dreams and ambition grow beyond
those of other – possibly myopic- members of the collective: should an
individual sacrifice his personal desires; derail his destiny, so to
speak, in the interest of the collective?
In all of this, faithfulness and loyalty have been brutally murdered. And the jury is still out on who pulled the trigger.” |
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| Source: Ayeni Adekunle/Nigerian Entertainment Today |
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