According to Afrobeats artist Davido, D’banj was the first Nigerian musician to achieve global fame. Davido credits D’banj’s 2012 hit single ‘Oliver Twist’ for paving the way for Nigerian artists to get international recognition.
In a recent interview with Apple Music, Davido expressed how D’banj’s success helped African music break into the Western market.
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 played a significant role in popularizing African music on a global scale, some argue that he was not the first Nigerian musician to achieve international stardom.
Legends like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Majek Fashek, and others had already made waves on the international music scene in previous decades.
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.
