Afrobeats singer David Adeleke, also known as Davido, claims that D’banj was the first Nigerian musician to reach global success.
Before D’banj’s 2012 hit track “Oliver Twist” became a global sensation, he claims that Nigerian musicians were not gaining 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.”
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.
