D'banj

Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo (born June 9, 1980), better known by his stage name D'banj, is a Nigerian singer, rapper, and television personality. His stage name D'banj is a combination of his first name, Dapo, and his surname, Oyebanjo.

He is the founder of Mo' Hits Records with producer Don Jazzy.

D'banj's debut album, No Long Thing, was released in 2005.

It yielded several singles with Tongolo as the breakthrough lead single.

It also provided his Koko Master persona, with the term, koko, taking on a variety of meanings.

D'banj's debut led to collaborations with other artists, including Dare Art Alade and Ikechukwu.

D'banj's second album Rundown Funk U Up, which was released in 2006, yielded several singles including the club single, Tongolo (Remix), and the lead single Why Me?.

In 2007, D'banj's single koko was used by the PDP (ruling political party in Nigeria) as its campaign theme for the general elections.

D'banj also joined Mo'Hits Records and its collective group, Mo' Hits Allstars (which included artists Dr SID, Wande Coal, KaySwitch, and D'Prince).

December 2007 saw the release of the collective's debut album, Curriculum Vitae..

It included singles, "Be Close To You", "Booty Call" and "Move Your Body", which was the lead single.

D'banj has won several music awards, including the awards for Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007, Artist of the Year at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2009, Best International Act: Africa at the 2011 BET Awards, Best-selling African Artist at the 2014 World Music Awards, Evolution award at the MTV Africa Musical awards 2015.

D'banj was featured in Ikechukwu's 2008 hit, "Wind Am Well".

July 2008 saw the release of D'banj's third album, The Entertainer, with the singles "Gbono Feli Feli", "Kimon", "Olorun Maje" and "Entertainer".

In December 2010, the Mo' Hits All Stars brought Koko Concert to Lagos.

D'banj is best known for his song "Oliver Twist", an uptempo dance fusion of Afrobeats and electronic dance music that topped the African charts in 2011.

D'banj, also known as the Kokomaster or Bangalee, was born in Zaria, the northern part of Nigeria to a military officer father and a devoutly religious businesswoman mother from Shagamu in Ogun State.

Dbanj has twins as siblings, Taiwo and Kehinde Oyebanjo.

D'banj's parents hoped he would follow in his father's footsteps and join the military, but D'banj turned to music instead being introduced to the harmonica by his late older brother, Femi Oyebanjo, who died in a plane crash at the age of seventeen.

D'banj's struggle for his parent's approval inspired his music, most notably on the album track, All Da Way, from his debut album.

In June 2011, D'banj was signed to Kanye West G.O.O.D Music record label as an artiste.

On 9 June 2011, D'banj wrote on his Twitter account, @iamdbanj, "Just like yesterday, myself and my brother did Tongolo. 7 years later, Mo'Hits signs with GOOD Music. Best Birthday gift ever. God thank you."

D'banj's song "Oliver Twist",topped the African charts in 2011 and was a top 10 hit in the UK singles chart in 2012, reaching No. 2 on the UK R&B chart.

With D'banj's first album came his first endorsement from an energy drink called Power Fist.

In December 2012, D'banj signed a mega deal with Sony.

Speaking on the importance of the deal to Sony, the managing director of Sony Music Entertainment described the deal as a "Pan African multi-album deal with Sony Music's RCA Records. It also involves an exclusive management deal with Sony Music and strategic partner ROCKSTAR4000 for the continent. Add to that a multi-album, worldwide exclusive contract with emerging Nigerian singer-songwriter star Kayswitch, and a strategic partnership with D'banj's Nigerian record label, DB Records".

The album includes singles 'It's Not A Lie', 'El Chapo as well as his 2012 mega hit 'Oliver Twist'.

On 23 June 2012, D'banj performed at the Hackney Weekend to celebrate the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was headlined by Jay-Z and Rihanna.

He performed alongside his friend and fellow Universal Music Group label mate, Rita Ora,on 30 August 2012 at the SCALA London Live Music, Clubs and Arts Venue to celebrate the release of her debut album Ora.

The forthcoming single "Bother You", inspired by the film Half of a Yellow Sun, was released on 7 April 2013, by Mi7 Records and D'banj's label, DKM Media.

He also performed at the AFCON 2013 closing ceremony held in South Africa.

In May 2013, D'banj was named the Bank of Industry (BOI) ambassador.

In November 2013, D'banj re-signed a multi-million Naira deal with Globacom, the company he parted ways with in 2010.

In June 2014, D'banj introduced artists under his record label, which includes him, his younger brother Kay Switch, brothers MossKriss and Ralph Kriss, and Tonto Dikeh and Ebeneztizzy.

He released the album titled King Don Come, with guest features from the likes of Gucci Mane, Wande Coal, Harry Songs, Bucie, Busiswa etc. in August.

In June 2014, D'banj secured a deal with Heritage Bank.

On 18 April 2015, D'banj performed at the Global Citizen Earth Day, a free concert on Capitol Hill (Washington Monument Grounds) for the 45th anniversary of Earth Day put on by the Global Poverty Project and the Earth Day Network.

In September 2016, it was announced D'banj was released from GOOD Music.

After several months of speculation, producer, Don Jazzy confirmed via his Twitter account the breakup of Mo'Hits.

After the break-up, Don Jazzy, D'Prince, Dr SID and Wande Coal started Mavin Records, while D'banj founded DB Records, and he signed his younger brother Kayswitch to the label alongside two producers, Jaysleek and Deevee.