‘I’m now an upcoming artist’ – D’banj

Legendary Nigerian musician Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, has declared himself “a new cat” (up-and-coming artist in local parlance).

The 43-year-old singer said despite clocking 20 years in the music industry, he still feels like he is scratching the surface again, noting that the music industry has evolved over the years.

In a recent interview with Hip TV, D’banj disclosed that he would be working with some new generation artists in his upcoming album, ‘Entertainer’, which he said was a sequel to his critically acclaimed 2008 album, ‘The Entertainer’.

He also spoke on the role he played in the global acceptance of Nigerian music.

D’banj said, “I am not the first [Nigerian artist] to have done an international collaboration. We were just the first to have done it the way we did it. Usually, when you want to do a collaboration with an international artist, it seemed before ours, like they were doing you a favour. But with the kind of grace that God gave us and the kind of team that we had, we were able to deliver one of the biggest [‘Mr Endowed’].

“I think that actually gave hope and visibility to the kids [new artists] to know that they can do it. So, I feel like a very proud father if I may say. That’s why I am a cat again [up-and-coming artist]. Now, I want to feature not even international artists but local artists. I want to feature Ayra Starr, Rema, Ruger and Don Jazzy. Collaboration is the new competition.”