How Kanye West Ruined D’banj’s Career In The Early 2010s

2004 Kanye West was a well-known rapper and producer, but he was far from his peak—that would come later.

But that same year, two ambitious Nigerian guys who were working together returned back home to break into the scene here and created a big hit. The two guys were Don Jazzy and D’banj. The hit they created was “Tongolo.”

Legend has it that three years prior, D’banj had gone to the UK so he could further his education, and get an engineering degree. He met the hustling Collins Ajereh—Don Jazzy—who was trying to make it in the UK as a songwriter and producer. This was 2001 and Don Jazzy was just 18 years old. They got along together, and started creating together.

Fast forward to 2004, they’ve created a record that was big back at home and the two guys knew their time had come.

The Mo’ Hits Era (2004 — 2010)

At the time, D’banj’s music was something. Along with the likes of P Square and 2Face who were already making waves before D’banj found his foot, the mid to late 2000s was pretty much dominated by D’banj.

In 2006, for instance, he released two projects and a number of hits. His debut album, “No Long Thing” was released in that year, of course.

He kept dropping hits, feeding the streets, and creating iconic stuff that would later become the backbone of his global campaign.

He was Mo’Hits’ biggest investment. Before WandeCoal could drop his Mushin 2 Mo’ Hits project, D’banj already released his classic “Entertainer” album which had such songs as “Fall In Love,” “Suddenly,” and “Mo Gbono Feli Feli.” This was in 2008.

He would spend the next three years making funky records and trying to break into the international scene.

Oliver Twist and Kanye West

The year is 2011, and D’banj is the biggest name in the Nigerian music industry. His latest hit, “Oliver Twist” has just broken into the UK Singles Charts and he’s definitely going places.

Before that, he’d made records like “Mr. Endowed” that had the vibe to really become international hits. “Oliver Twist” was what did it for him, though, and in 2011, D’banj was heralded the way WizKid was in 2021.

On one of his travels overseas, he met Kanye West on a plane and gave him a pitch. Obviously, the idea was for Kanye to partner with him—and Don Jazzy—to make a star out of D’banj. He wanted to compete with the big dogs, and he didn’t need too much to convince Kanye West, who was himself in the middle of a lot of things.

In June 2011, D’banj got signed to Kanye West‘s GOOD Music, and that was supposed to be the beginning of an era. Unfortunately, it was the end. D’banj had a fallout with Don Jazzy, went on a hiatus, Kanye West went on to continue to market his own music—not paying attention to the African artist he signed at all. And that was the end.

D’banj Fell Off

By 2013, when D’banj would drop his next project, he was already out of GOOD Music, without releasing anything serious under the label. Kanye West had given the Nigerian pop star false hope that he could make him something he couldn’t make him, and D’banj—even with all his sass and sauce—fell for it. That was the end of D’banj’s career as we knew it.

He tried to float a record label, failed. Been trying to stage a comeback for years now, and he’s still trying. Nothing seems to be working for the guy anymore. He truly lost it.

On the other hand, look at Don Jazzy. In the years that followed, Don Jazzy has established himself as the most popular person in the entertainment industry. And he didn’t even need Kanye West!