1. Dbanj has Kanye (at least as far as the
eyes can see)
Going by the release of today’s Oliver Twist,
we are at least certain that D’banj is still in
cahoots with the almighty, Kanye West. Do
you really think he can lose with the
mystique and power of Kanye behind him –
will Kanye allow his latest African
experiment fail? I doubt it seriously.
2. D’banj is the performer
People always forget that the love that fans
have for performers is strong even if the
performers screw up – reference everyone
from Michael Jackson to Whitney Houston.
Check this out – 9ice allegedly cheated on
his wife, betrayed the friend that discovered
him and abandoned his producer, but do
his fans love him less? Hell no. The day after
the disastrous Sahara Reporters interview,
did D’banj have a sold out concert in New
York no matter what anyone, including
YNaija said? Hell yeah! Morale? As long as he
continues to give the public the ‘Koko’, it is
fine – and D’banj has it.
3. Don Jazzy’s losing it
Don Jazzy’s biggest power is his mystique.
Over the past three months it has steadily
gone. There is that weird interview with
Genevieve magazine, there’s the even
weirder interview with Hip Hop World
Magazine, where he appeared to diss
rappers and then ran to his website to give
a watery apology. Then there was his limpy
Jonathan repudiation and his When-I-speak-
they-read-it-in-Aso-Rock nonsense. Then
there’s the fact that he is attending too
many events, and worse off: that forgettable
live performance with Tiwa Savage. Don
Jazzy, backing up Tiwa?! Without D’banj by
his side in any of these – the superstar
power from which he feeds off – Don Jazzy
has only been diminished.
4. Dbanj is also an astute businessman
The big mistake we’ve made is to stereotype
D’banj. We’ve always assumed he is the
entertainer and Don Jazzy is the
entrepreneur, but is that truly the case? No.
Insiders will tell you that just the same way
Don Jazzy has multitasked as Producer-and-
Businessman, D’banj has also multitasked as
Performer-and-Businessman. It’s a mistake
people also make with Chocolate City and
EME where they think MI and Banky don’t
know the business. Not true. Those guys get
the business – and D’banj is no pushover.
5. Was Don Jazzy really the boss?
So yes, in the public eye, every time D’banj
wanted to say something, he had to first
have Don Jazzy whisper into his ears, so he
just had to be Don Jazzy’s boy, right? Oh
please. Do you really think Don Jazzy was
telling him anything they hadn’t already
discussed and rehearsed at home? It’s
show-business! It’s an act! D’banj wasn’t
Don Jazzy’s boy – they were business
partners. Just because he held the
microphone to his crotch every chance he
gets doesn’t make him dumb.
6. Get off the stage!
I know I have mentioned this before – but
still, why is Don Jazzy diluting his brand by
performing? And why was he backing up
Tiwa Savage? No one began to admire him
because of his performance; we admired
him exactly because he did not perform. He
doesn’t dress well, doesn’t speak well, has a
croaky voice and frankly isn’t easy on the
eye. He needs to go back to the background
fast. Seriously.
7. The ‘H’ word
So I always hear this funny story about how
Don Jazzy is so humble. You know, because
he used to give out credit on Twitter, he
responds to fans on Twitter and whatever
else. And so, people say, this humility will
serve him well as opposed to D’banj’s
insufferable arrogance. Dear Lord, save us
from the dangers of image-making. In fact,
for those who have actually worked with
the man – or tried to book him for an
interview – you know this is just too funny.
I’ll just move on before I say more.
8. Don Jazzy has magic fingers, we all say
But does he really? We always assume his
beat is so unique that it has transformed the
careers of Dr. Sid, D’Prince, Wande Coal and
K-Switch. Let’s analyse this urban legend.
First, D’Prince and K-Switch still have no
careers – that is unless you consider
hanging around Don Jazzy or D’banj a
career. Wande Coal’s power is his voice not
his producer. Dr. Sid has just about one or
two hit songs. So, perhaps we over-estimate
Don Jazzy’s prowess. Did this famous
prowess transform Ikechukwu’s career? Not
that I can remember. Did it make of the
songs he produced for Naeto C, heavy hits?
Not that I know of. Did it make Darey’s music
any more hits than those produced by
others? Not in the least. So what are we
saying?
9. Don Jazzy is boring
Seriously, how is he going to manage to
interface with the public without D’banj?
Have you heard Don Jazzy speak? Have you
sat down for 30 minutes with the man? At
least D’banj can quickly start talking of
Kokolets and Babylets and Mamalets and any
lets that can let him avoid answering
intelligent questions. But Don Baba J?
There’s fire on the mountain oh.
10. Do you really care for Mohits without
D’banj?
Take your time and think about this. Would
Mo’ Hits be a compelling label with Dr. Sid,
Wande Coal, K-Switch and D’Prince alone
(why am I even calling K-Switch’s name in
this matter?)? You know the truth is no. The
magic of that team has always been D’banj.
No one wants to see any yeye ‘Mo’Hits All
Stars’ without D’banj. When they perform,
D’banj makes the difference. D’banj is the
icing on the cake. D’banj is also the flour in
the cake. In fact, D’banj is the cake.
So there you have it – and please do not tell
me both will succeed. Who’re ya trying to
fool? Every time there is a break up,
someone wins and someone loses. 2face
won and Faze lost, 2face won and Blackface
lost, 2face won and Kennis lost, Olu Maintain
won and what-his-name lost, Tony Tetuila
won, and then Eedris won, and Eddie is still
losing, 9ice won and ID lost (I love Toni
Payne, so we’ll leave her out of this). I can go
on and on. Someone will get the short-end
of the stick in this case. And my money,
sadly, is on Don Jazzy.
But I’d be glad to be proven wrong. Oh so
glad.
No comments:
Post a Comment