SHOCKING REVELATION!! How Don Jazzy Broke Mohits Record, Tweets Via Wande Coal Account
Monday, April 23, 2012Omoba
Hey peeps I fopund this peiece very very intresting
and I couldn’t help but share it to you…According to a popular website, Dbanj
revealed the truth as per what is going on at Mohits record This is quite long, I must say, but Dbanj reveals the truth on Mohits.
There’s an important person in that building,
right?’ the cab driver asked. ‘Important
musician? I nodded, too tired to let any curious driver drag me into a
conversation.
He got the message and left me alone the entire drive from Canary Wharf to the
London Marriot Hotel, in Grosvenor Square. Then, as I got down to get my
suitcase from the trunk, he gave me a knowing look, smiled, and said ‘are you
the musician?’
‘Of course not’, I said to him, smiling this time. ‘The musician is in Canary
Wharf, his name is D’banj’.
Silence. Confused look.
‘D’banj?’
Yes, D’banj. He’s big in Africa. You know ‘Oliver Twist?’ Silence again, then
as his final ‘no’ came, I said ‘Google him.’
It was 4am on Saturday, April 21. I arrived in London eight hours earlier, and
had spent almost all of that time chatting with D’banj, in his first interview
with a Nigerian newspaper in a long time, and his first interview on the
Mo’Hits brouhaha.
London is D’banj’s town. He’s performed there over and over, his single ‘Oliver
Twist’ is on the A-list at Choice FM, and enjoys heavy rotation on other
stations. A day before I came, he spent hours doing interviews at the Universal
offices in Kensington. Some might hail D’banj as the man championing the gospel
of ‘Afrobeats’ across the world. But, just like the cab driver, London does not
yet know D’banj.
As we walk into the Choice FM building in the afternoon on Saturday, there are
no heads turning or fans gazing. In fact, his lawyer, Elias, who wore a pair of
loud snakeskin boots, attracted more attention than D’banj.
Who leaves a zone where they’re comfortable and celebrated; where they’re
established and successful, for a place where no one seems to give the
slightest care?
D’banj, that’s who.
The 31 year-old entertainer has spent nearly two years building structures he
hopes will help take his music to new markets in Europe, and especially
America. This move, he believes, cost him his friendship and business
relationship with his long time partner Don Jazzy.
‘I’m a risk taker’, he says. ‘Life is all about risks. But you must never
endanger yourself. I don’t endanger myself, which is why, even though I’m here,
I’m still in Nigeria all the time, performing’.
With incredible energy, and the kind of passion that endeared everyone to him
when he first moved back to Nigeria in 2005, D’banj says his deal with Kanye
West is a case of ‘preparation meets opportunity’.
‘I pulled up with my entourage at the Emirates first class lounge in Dubai. We
were returning from Scott Tommey’s birthday. I came down with Bankuli, my
P.A. Chuchu, and my business manager Chidi. My entourage was large and I was
looking fly. One of the hostesses ran to me with a Kanye West placard. I said
I’m not Kanye o – then I told my guys ‘Kanye is around so no dulling.’ Chuchu
and Bankuli spotted Kanye walking in to check in. They went to him and he said
we could come over’.
‘As they came, I had my iPad with me, and my headphones. First thing Kanye said
was ‘I like your T-shirt’. I wore a Zara T-shirt and a D&G ring. He liked
my appearance and said he’d give me 5 minutes. I told him ‘I played with you in
Nigeria during NB PLC Star Megajam. I’ve done a song with Snoop and we’re going
to shoot the video now. I’d like to play you my songs.’ I played Oliver,
Scapegoat, and Fall in love. He was dancing. He removed the headphones and said
‘I don’t mean to sound rude, but if anyone has to bring you out in the states,
it has to be me, not Snoop. He asked when I was going to be in the US, and
I told him I was going there that day. Then he asked who my producer was,
and I said Don Jazzy. He said ‘come with him.’
Three months later, D’banj, Don Jazzy and their crew were in New York, where,
according to D’banj, it took almost forever before they could establish contact
with Kanye. ‘It was only an email address he gave us at the airport. So when we
got to NY, we sent several emails but got no response. Not a single one.’
‘Then we met someone that knew someone that knew another someone and we got
another email address. We sent several messages again, no response. Then
Bankuli sent a final one saying, ‘we have been in New York for some time and
sent several emails. We have waited long enough and are now on our way to do
the Snoop Dogg video’
And then the reply came. ‘Sorry to have overlooked your earlier emails. Mr.
Kanye would like to meet with you tomorrow.’
‘We didn’t believe it. Don Jazzy, who had been reluctant all along, still did
not believe it. Even when we got there (Wyclef’s studio) the next day, he stood
outside. When Kanye came I went to call him ‘Oya come now, come play am the
music now’. It was difficult to believe it was real and it was happening. Then
when Kanye came in, with the GOOD music acts, I was like, ‘wow’.
From there everything happened fast. Next they were meeting Jay Z, making a
presentation to LA Reid (At Electric studios), and discussing contracts. But
while the label offered him a traditional recording contract, D’banj opted for
a joint venture agreement structured to guarantee three things: retaining full
control of his materials in Africa, signing Don Jazzy on board (on behalf on
Mohits USA), and, he says, bringing the Universal/Def Jam imprint to Africa.
‘I’ve always thought of how I can be a useful vessel to the industry. A friend
and colleague always says to me: ‘D’banj, you’re the Jesus Christ of the
industry.’ So having ran Mohits for nine years, I already had plans of how we
could blow Mohits up. I had plans of expanding, and most especially,
bringing hope to that 11 year-old kid somewhere in Africa who may never have
had the opportunity to get signed to major labels’.
‘So it was not really just about me. There’s a big market in Africa.
I said to them, ‘I’ve sold millions of records in Africa, we’ve done
millions of hits with CRBT, and I’ve run the most successful label on the
continent. You take care of the US, but let me take you to Africa.‘ And
I’m happy to tell you that we’re doing that. D’banj’s album will be the first
under Universal/Def Jam Africa, and we’re already putting all the structures in
place’.
‘I’m a businessman.’ I learnt from my mom, who’s a very successful
businesswoman. So having run and funded Mohits for nine years, I knew we had to
move to the next level. And everything we wanted was happening. Finally we
could take African music to the world.’
Just like the lyrics of the song, D’banj was an Oliver Twist. Here’s a guy who
had conquered a continent; was sitting on the top three list, and making more
money than anyone else in his category. D’banj was a big player in Nigeria,
where there are over 150 million people; a big player in Africa, with over 850
million people. But he wanted to play big globally, with 7 billion people to
grab from.
And that’s where the problem started. ‘Don Jazzy was no longer comfortable. You
know, we were like fishes out of water, in this new system, starting all over
again, like when we returned home in 2004. I got him a place in the
US, set up a studio there, just so he’d be comfortable and be able to work
without going to hang around the studios. In one year Jazzy did not make a
song. I said, maybe you want to go back to Lagos, you’ll get inspiration
there?’ I was all about the work, I wanted us to make this happen, so we can
bridge that gap and create a path for Africa. But Jazzy wanted us to go back
home. And I understand. He’s my friend, my brother’.
‘But I never expected him to do what he did.’ He said to me in July last year ‘Let’s
scatter Mohits. He told me there are two captains – two captains cannot be in a
ship. I was like ‘that’s not possible, this is a marriage’. He said ‘then this
marriage is no longer working’. I said then let’s go for counseling; I asked,
so what happens to our children?’
Don Jazzy wanted Mohits, D’banj says. And that happened on April 16, 2012 –
after months of a bitter feud, characterized by accusations and counter
accusations, widespread speculation, leaked emails and failed reconciliation
attempts.
‘You can see he has signed already’, he said, showing the agreement with Don
Jazzy’s signature. ‘I have full rights to my catalogue and full ownership of my
Koko Holdings, while he has full ownership of Mo’Hits, including the artistes
and liabilities.’
Already judged guilty in the court of public opinion, and publicly disowned by
his own boys Wande Coal and Dr SID, D’banj says he’s sad, but not bitter. Does
he feel kind of lonely, alone in the cold? ‘Asking me if I’m lonely
because Wande or Jazzy has left me is like asking my first sister if she’s
lonely now – she has two kids now, lives in Canada. Don Jazzy is still my
brother – we just had to move on. We’ll still work together in future, same
with my boys. In fact, just this week, he sent me the remix to Oliver Twist
that we’re releasing in the UK on May 14. All the interviews I’ve had here, I
kept hyping him. It’s already in my system – you know me, I’m a one-way
soldier. Jazzy is a very quiet person. Loyalty is key. My loyalty still
lies in the friendship I had with him. He was cheated by JJC, and I was
present. I swore never to cheat him. But I’d like to think our visions became
different.
‘It was clear when we met that Jazzy wanted to be the biggest producer, I
wanted to be the biggest African entertainer, not the biggest singer. I had my
mind on money. In order to say I’m the biggest, I had to be the richest. So for
a very long time, he was on the back end. He respected my act, I respected his
music judgment. Every meeting that brought us money I went for. I’d say I need
to confirm from Don Jazzy because that was the agreement, even though I knew it
was my decision. First Glo deal was $500,000. That Landcruiser jeep was because
of my demands. It was because of the skill and exposure that I used to bargain.
I’m a businessman’
‘People say I’m less talented, I was known as a jester in the JJC squad. I’d
make everyone happy and play the mouth organ, but I knew what I wanted. I
decided to give Don Jazzy power in 2007 when we realized that after four years,
they did not recognize us as a record label. We had signed artistes and done
all this work. So we restructured, and restrategized. So I told him to chill,
so he can be more respected and be the don. I’m older than him by one year, yet
I respected him like a don. I remember when he came out at Ali Baba show, I
knelt down for him, so people would say he’s the baba. All the talking in my
ears and all, it was an arrangement. All the Soundcity advert and all, he did
not tell me anything. It was all an arrangement.’
With his UK publicist Vanessa Amadi taking notes nearby, his manager Bankulli
interjecting every now and then, and several legal documents surrounding us,
D’banj spoke passionately of his former partner in the same way a man might go
on about a cherished and respected, but estranged, lover. He’s on his sixth
cigarette, and thinks the room is stuffy, even though no one complains. So he
opens the sliding glass for ventilation. ‘Jazzy did his part’, he says, sitting
down again and looking me in the face. ‘He made the music for nine years. But
nothing stops him from making for twenty more years. We could have changed the
formula. Why didn’t he want to change the formula? It was time to expand the
business, Mohits was Motown reloaded. We always knew we would expand, he always
said I had more swagger than anyone else he knows, And I know he’s one of the
best producers in the world; we wanted to make Mohits the biggest in Africa.
Other labels were springing up. So if we could conquer America, London when no one
had done it before. Most of our people stop in Germany, or Paris. But this is
America, this is the big league; it makes us the strongest, the biggest. We had
already made the money. And who best to introduce me to the rest of the world?
Kanye did not want to change anything about my music, my style of dressing, or
my brand. It is God’s favour. But Jazzy was and is very scared. Something had
worked for eight years, so he wanted to maintain the status quo. People are
afraid to try new things.’
‘But’, he tells me, still maintaining eye contact while lighting another
cigarette, ‘I’m not afraid. I’m a vessel that God is trying to use to help the
industry. I’m a bridge. Once in a few years, one artiste comes from the UK to
run the world, none has come from Africa. Fela was the closest. It’s been my
own dream; I made my name from Nigeria, unlike Seal, Wale, and Tinie Tempah.
And I want to bring Universal, Def Jam and all to Nigeria. So if I can
build that bridge, then we’re good, because it will give hope to the boys in
Asaba, in Oshogbo that this thing is possible.’
The day after our Canary Wharf interview, we meet up at Highbury Islington,
where he’s shooting a documentary and the promo for the Oliver Twist
competition for the UK. D’banj’s new crew: Semtex (a white A&R rep from the
label), Bankuli and Vanessa, are on the ground, working with the production
team. ‘This is why we’re here o. This is the work’, he says as he invites me
into the dressing room.
‘And when people say why am I not talking, this is why. I’m focused on making
this happen. It’s more important for me to make sure I don’t disappoint all
those who have invested in me; all those who believe in me and are supporting
the movement, than to be fighting over who’s right or wrong. Even now that I’m
talking to you, I don’t even know if I should be doing this interview.’
It’s very unexpected that D’banj – the super aggresive D’banj – is speaking in
this manner. He has fought many battles, cut off many former friend-associates,
ignored the Nigerian media, and reportedly humiliated several Mo’hits members,
including Ikechukwu and Dr SID. Temperamental, often impatient, and vocal,
those who know him will tell you the D’banj they know, is not the one that’s
speaking.
I don taya sef for all this news sef..you guy should sort out yourselves jare....
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