Davido Claims D'banj Is The First Artiste To Gain Prominence Globally
Popular Nigerian singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has made a controversial claim about D'banj.
Davido claimed that D'banj was the first Nigerian artiste to start getting international recognition due to his 2012 hit single ‘Oliver Twist’.
Davido made this claim during a recent interview with Apple Music, where he claimed that D'banj's influence as an artiste put Nigeria on the music map.
Davido 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.”
Many have however disagreed with the singer's claim by stating that artistes like Fela were responsible for Afrobeats gaining international recognition.