D’banj issa boss. Industry OG. Businessman. Veteran in this game. The respect is 100%. Everybody respects Banga Lee, even his haters respect him. It’s deep. From Lagos to Kampala, D’banj is revered as one of the biggest acts ever on the continent. He’s done countless hits, and we know his music, as well as we know our names. He’s that OG, that took African music international.
Fuck that! D’Banj had Kanye West as a vixen, got Snoop Dogg on his song. Worked with Big Sean, and topped the charts. By all standards, he’s qualified for Greatest Of All Time.
That was why “Issa Banger” was a shock-er. He’s trying out streets, that’s alright. BUT, his decision to put on Slimcase (Oshozondi) and Mr Real (Legbegbe), was totally off. BUT, he did it. He put on up and coming artists. He didn’t feature on their songs, but he featured them on his song. WAWU!
Since D’Banj’s international escapade, the next artist to try out that shit was Wizkid. 2016/2017, Wizkid explored the foreign market, dropping hits and doing songs with foreign arts (Drake, Kranium, Vybz Kartel, Future, Chris Brown etc.) In July 2017, he dropped his critically acclaimed album, “Sounds From The Other Side.” Everything’s a big one from the StarBoy. Wizkid is a legend, too.
BUT, what about “Soco“? It had Ceeza Milli, Spotless and his new act, Terri on. It was a Wizkid song, he coulda taken the whole shine. He can even buy off their verses and sing it alone. BUT, Wizzy didn’t do that. He let them have their way. He let ’em take the part DJ’s won’t cut off while spinning. That’s a great one.
Most superstars, and I mean most, can’t feature up and coming artists, unless they’re their signees. D’Banj didn’t have to sign Slimcase. Wizkid didn’t have to sign Ceeza. Infact, who’s Spotless?
And yeah, this is what the industry needs. Davolee is more popular for his verse on “Pepper Dem Gang,” than he is for “Gbeff.” That’s because Olamide featured him, and not the other way round.
This is a huge move. And it’s a better to move the industry forward.
More artists should emulate D’Banj!