'D'banj was the first Nigerian artist to achieve global prominence. - DAVIDO
Afrobeats singer David Adeleke, nicknamed Davido, claims that D'banj was the first Nigerian musician to reach global success.
According to him, Nigerian artists were not receiving foreign bookings prior to the global popularity of D'banj's 2012 smash track 'Oliver Twist'.
In a recent interview with Apple Music, Davido stated that D'banj's international success prompted a paradigm change, which resulted in African music finding momentum in the Western world.
He stated, "D'banj was my initial idea of a Nigerian musician dominating the globe. No one in America was booking Nigerian artists for gigs, until I saw Kanye West in D'banj's 'Oliver Twist' video on YouTube.
"The popularity of 'Oliver Twist' prompted Americans to book D'banj, 2Face, P-Square, and other African performers for shows. They were making almost $1,000,000 per show. So I decided to switch gears and start singing African music because that's where I'm from."
While D'banj helped to globalize African music, particularly Afrobeats, in its early stages of exportation, many observers dispute Davido's assertion that he was the first Nigerian musician to reach international popularity.
In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Nigerian music giants such as Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Majek Fashek, and others rose to international prominence.
2Baba, formerly known as 2Face's hit song 'African Queen' has won various international prizes and was used as a soundtrack of the popular American romantic comedy ‘Phat Girlz’ (2006), years before D’banj’s ‘Oliver Twist’ was released.
