D’banj is losing it at home, how can he win away?

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I challenge D’banj to blaze the trail once more, and have me re-editing my already typed works.

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D'banj is not a great Singer, but he's probably the most successful. Anybody that is complaining now could be actually late ‘cuz if he were as bad as the saying goes, he wouldn't become as large as he is. …we realize we cannot Rap. We realize we cannot sing;  but we know we can entertain you in our own way.”

– Don Jazzy (Punch Newspaper, 8th October, 2011)

“Every Artiste’s work, unless he be a hermit, creating solely for his own satisfaction and with no need of sales, is to some extent socially conditioned; he depends upon the approval of his patrons.”

– Unknown

Continue after the break.

Music is a tool for change. Music is everything. Music is a panacea, and especially can buffer the pressures from the countless bustling of our daily pursuits. To ignore the energy of music could be similar to unmasking an ancestral spirit.
Since the D'banj-Jazzy imbroglio, I've tried hard to detach myself from subjective stands. I've watched and observed both parties keenly and I believe it's safe to write on my analyses thus far. The summary of my discourse is that D'banj is waning.

Now, let's get down to brass tacks, for it seems the Koko master isn't (or has found it impossible) recording anymore great songs, without his erstwhile team mate- Don Jazzy, and anybody who saw their matchless combination before could be as worried as I am. Banga Lee isn't recording anymore major pop/street anthems, as he used to, yet he continues to feed on his past glory; by still managing to sell out shows and cover magazines. Can we safely say then, that his musical career is loitering on the brink of a collapse? As much as I'm between the pro Mo'hits vanguards, having faulted the D'banj-Jazzy split up forcefully and objectively, especially in respect with their dwindled musical representations subsequently, i'd like to make two things clear: First, Don Jazzy has quite succeeded in delivering major, attention-grabbing materials; even without D'banj, and I can count from top of my head 7-8 major hits he has scored, to substantiate.

Secondly, my criticisms are borne out of my concerns for good music and formidable entertainment empires – empires that will quake the nation and go onto stun the world. Nothing more. I have nothing whatsoever against D'banj personally, but the fact that ‘Oliver Twist'continues to be his biggest single since he parted ways with Jazzy is thought-provoking. How can an old Jazzy-produced single be larger than the whole D'banj post Mo'hits album? I'm worried. You must be. It should disturb real D'banj fans and music pundits in general. He is not hoisting his flag (on same musical high as before), he stays playing into the hands of Don Jazzy faithfuls, who believe strongly that Jazzy could be the muse behind his music.

In the light with this, I implore D'banj to please awaken and clear rife doubts. There's no better time than today's, considering his background, and Perhaps; his comprehension of the yearnings of teeming fans, supporters and critics.

D'banj is NOT Denrele, Uti Nwachukwu or Saka. Stage performances are just a sequel to good songs. Performances should feed off and complement wonderful studio projects. He is a self-acclaimed entertainer, and I have not really a drop of doubt about that; but what is his entire ‘acting'and ‘theatrics'and shirt-pulling-bragadaccio without some heavy club/pop anthems for the folks to nod to? If, as an Obi Asika for example, I don't fancy being outdoors much, does it imply I'd never get to connect with a talent in D'banj's mould, because I would have to await him to make up; on stage, for lapses on his tape? This illustration is definitely aside, by the way.

I don't know the terms of the G.O.O.D Music handle D'banj but I understand that  it will never serve to position his career fully, if he doesn't deliver to his patrons; his home-based patrons. The fans and listeners in the home are his major patrons. International recognition and acceptability only flow from hits -multiple hits- that will need to have been endorsed by the pundits, fans and critics in the home; at the very least to a sizable extent if not in its entirety.

Another choice before us is hoping D'banj switches styles and goes completely international in his pattern of music. But you can find pitfalls. He can't switch styles today and circumvent with the American genres tomorrow. D'banj is not the most effective singer or rapper or dancer. He'd hardly scratch any surface there, with or without G.O.O.D Music. A Banky W, Bez, Dare or an MI Abaga, with their much seemingly up-to-foreign-standards deliveries wouldn't dare go that route; that will be the musical equivalence of taking coals to Newcastle.

Godwon won Eminem's freestyle battle, he hasn't achieved anything in the American Industry afterwards. Matter of fact, he's struggling to find balance within our industry, and until his recent annihilation of Sauce Kid, was going on with a just-about-average name in Nigeria. Well, except in Hip-hop circles, which really is a relatively small chunk of our ‘listenership'base. Craig David -in his heyday- used it, he left Southampton and went ahead to test new waters in America. He's still licking his wounds.

Your home turf is any artiste's bedrock, he mustn't screw with it. It's his best bet and must certanly be served right. If he loses at home, he won't win away, this is not Premiership or Champions League. See, prolific and seasoned entertainment writer, Jon Caramanica, struggled to create a bit on ‘D Kings Men '. He wrote a paltry work with NY Times, like he was lost for words or he was spending money on each alphabet together with his blood. I was tired. D'banj is our own, they don't really know him like we do. They never will.

Amidst all these though, Banga Lee has a strongpoint, and we ought to admit. He commands respect and captivates a titanic audience. He's still killing it, I must add. Only thing is he can only go up to now if he doesn't commence to coal the fire. Whilst I'm not saying Don Jazzy is the beginning and the finish of his career, I'm saying he is giving critics plenty reasons to posit thus.

‘Oyato'-obviously hastily done, in a bid to announce he was still in charge- was a really weak song. The ridicule in its wake was just as sick. I got it online the day it was launched, I had been chilling for a post Mo'hits material from the Koko master. I played it a few times on that cold evening. I was outdoors, my headphones on. At some point, I flung my head back and laughed aloud. It had been a bitter laugh, the type that may create a passer-by stop and stare. My expectations were dashed.

Some one year plus after, nothing has changed, save for ‘Top of The World ', and perhaps ‘Cash Flow'and ‘Bachelor '. The Koko master stays releasing music that leaves much to be desired. And gradually, his arsenal is depleting, his monster hits thinning out, his fire smothering and our musical cravings ebbing. My outlook of his career, at present, is positively dispirited.

On ‘Scape Goat'Remix, his GOOD Music benefactor, Kanye West, spat some of his most insipid lines ever. I was nearly teary-eyed upon hearing those. I wonder if that says anything about what value Mr. West places on his huge Nigerian signing. I must say i wonder. Fally Ipupa lends further credence to my suspicions of D'banj's nosedive on the ‘D Kings Men'Project. ‘Nous Les Meilleurs (We The Best)'was one helluva fiasco, it reeked of only rambling sounds. I'm also thinking something is wrong on the elements of his A&R team, otherwise that song had no business on the album.

I could have been opinionated all article long. Allow me to share with you what Ayomide Tayo, a music critic, wrote in his overview of ‘D Kings Men ': 

“…Fans wouldn't give D'banj's new songs half of a chance because they lack Don Baba Jay's magic touch. D'banj understands this and fights back on several tracks on DKM.”

My question now could be, have these fight backs delivered the products? Exist major hits consequently of the fight backs?

Ayomide writes further: 

“…On DKM there are no huge pop anthems like the people crafted by Don Jazzy in the Mo'hits period. What we have on this compilation are strong pop songs hinged on D'banj's personality and amazing instrumentals.”

At this time, I'd implore us all to minutely dissect Ayomide Tayo's postulations vis-a-vis my aforementioned analyses, then figure if the Koko Master is still breaking grounds (musically). Once we digest these words alone, can we also ask that the actual Koko master stands up? By ‘stand up'I mean rise up and take the lead, as it used to be.

I understand and respect that D'banj has great fortunes (possibly than he knows what to do with them). It's musically he is (almost becoming) destitute, and any true supporter would be pained. This is exactly what necessitates my writing. I'd like some carefully done and structured songs, I want him to orchestrate hits upon hits like we used to possess, monster hits like Wizkid, Olamide and Ice Prince did within the last 10-12 months. I want not more of his forceful, hasty attempts at foisting his music upon us.

Whatever the case, I don't expect Banga Lee to see this and bite his thumb nail (I know he does bite his nails and stuff) and lose sleep, together with his mind hovering over problems of just how to conduct his music in order to establish evidence of his genius (with or without Jazzy).

I also don't want to excoriate his brand and person, in the least. Candidly.

But I believe that piece will have served its end, should it flourish in the minimal task of rousing the Koko master from his pseudo-American dream, into a fact where he assumes the mantle, as you of Nigeria's biggest music exports of the 21st century, and churn out works that will have oppositions bowing in awe.

I challenge D’banj to blaze the trail once more, and have me re-editing my already typed works. I need him to clear my doubts so I can probably beg a few of my closest, kindest friends; to help me into a state of temporary oblivion, by shutting my door, whilst I sedate myself with a measured doze of Gin and Juice, as I fade slowly with R. Kelly’s ‘Turn Back The Hands of Time’ playing quietly in my background. I am waiting. I know a million people who also are.