MULTIPLE PAN AFRICAN AND INTERNATIONAL AWARD WINNER D’BANJ
EMBARKS ON A NEW CHAPTER IN HIS ILLUSTRIOUS MORE-THAN-20-MILLION-RECORDS-SOLD
CAREER WITH SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT – IN ADDITION INKS A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
DEAL FOR DB RECORDS IN NIGERIA INCLUDING A MULTI-ALBUM, FULL MANAGEMENT,
WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT WITH EMERGING STAR AND SONGWRITER KAYSWITCH
Global recording company Sony Music Entertainment is proud
to announce the signing of Nigerian megastar D’Banj to its RCA Africa label.
The breakthrough deal also includes a multi-album, worldwide exclusive contract
with emerging Nigerian singer-songwriter star Kayswitch and a strategic
partnership with D’Banj’s Nigerian record label DB Records, who’s catalog
includes artists and producers such as J.Sol, Jay Sleek and DeeVee. Sony
Music’s RCA Records label hosts a family of global superstar artists and a catalog
of music, which includes some of the most important recordings in history. The
signing landmarks a historic moment, which sees Africa’s number one superstar
artist D’Banj join Africa’s number one music and entertainment company Sony
Music.
“Partnering with D’Banj is a seminal event for us at Sony
Music Entertainment Africa. We’ve always admired his talent and to be able to
assist with bringing D’Banj’s music to millions of fans, established and new,
across the continent is an honour for us. There are still so many to whom an
artist like D’Banj has so much to offer that we can see a brand new era
emanating from this phase in his career. We are very excited about being a part
of it. ” Says Managing Director of Sony Music Entertainment Sean Watson.
“Partnering with the leading music company in Africa is a
natural fit for me and DB Records to ensure my music can be available to my
fans across every corner of Africa and in countries where they’ve never been
able to access my music in a legitimate way, instantly as its released anywhere
else in the world. It’s a new era for Africa, the birthplace of music and I’m
excited about this very powerful partnership with Sony Music through which we
will give birth together to a new era with endless opportunities for my fans,
producers, artists and the start of a new time for a revolution in music from
Africa. Nothing is impossible!” says D’Banj
D’Banj (born Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo) signed to a Pan
African multi-album deal with Sony Music’s RCA Records. He has also concluded
an exclusive management deal with Sony Music and strategic partner ROCKSTAR4000
for the continent. Under the deal D’Banj will join Sony Music’s Pan African RCA
Label in the family of such superstar artists as Usher, Chris Brown, R Kelly,
Alicia Keys, P!nk, Christina Aguilera, Pitbull, Britney Spears, Jamie Foxx,
Justin Timberlake, Ke$ha, T-Pain and Miguel.
“We are really excited to be partnering up with DBanj and
his DB Records label. DBanj is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in Africa
who continues to deliver world-class hits. What we’ve seen from DB Records so
far is an energetic mix of hot new sounds and great new artists like Kayswitch,
who we believe will impact right across Africa. The recent launch of iTunes in
Africa means that Nigerian fans and those elsewhere on the continent will now
readily be able to access this amazing music as soon as it comes to market.”
Noted Spiro Damaskinos, Director of RCA Records Africa.
“Since the first time I met the incredible talent that is
D’Banj in Lagos a few years ago, headlining the first of many shows we did
together, I knew he was destined for musical greatness. Indeed D’Banj went on
to smash all expectations around the world. He has always flown the Nigerian
and African flag higher and higher and broken down the barriers for many of
Africa’s great talent to follow through. We are thrilled to now have D’Banj in
the family with Sony Music and RCA Records and to represent him across the
African continent. Together we can take his amazing music and talent to even
greater heights and new audiences, as well as launch emerging new stars such as
Kayswitch through this landmark partnership” says Jandre Louw, FOUNDER and CEO
of ROCKSTAR4000.
DBANJ (a stage name that is a combination of the first
letter of his first name and part of his last name) is an extremely talented
Nigerian-born, singer-songwriter-musician who has become an International
Superstar blending sounds from AfroBeats, AfroPop and AfroFusion music genres.
D’Banj literally broke contemporary sounds and music from Africa onto the
mainstream Global stage recently with his smash-hit ‘Oliver Twist’. ‘Oliver
Twist’ has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide to date. The single
debuted at number 9 on the UK National charts just behind the likes of Rihanna
and Tulisa.
D’BANJ’s musical mentor and influence is the late Afrobeat
Maestro – the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti and like him, he performs in
Yoruba, English and Pidgin English.
As an energetic, crowd-pleasing live entertainer, D’BANJ has
performed alongside many international artists on stages all over the world
from the 1st Edition of the MTV Africa Music Awards to the ‘Koko Concert‘ LIVE
in London at the O2 Arena amongst others.
As a recording artist and performer D’BANJ has won a whole
host of awards including Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007,
Artist of the Year at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2009, BET Awards of 2011 for
Best International Act, Best African Act – (MOBO Awards 2012), Most Gifted Male
Video of the Year (Channel O 2012 MVA’s).
D’Banj has also established himself as a television
celebrity on Nigerian TV’s “Koko Mansion”.
In 2011 Kanye West penned a deal with D’banj onto his
G.O.O.D. Music label in the USA. D’Banj also signed with Mercury in the UK.
Over the course of his career D’BANJ has worked with Snoop Dogg, Kanye West,
Jay Z, Kid Cudi, LA Reid, Tinie Tempah and Rio Ferdinand. A humanitarian at
heart, D’BANJ is the founder of Koko Foundation for Youth and Peace
Development. He is also Nigeria’s first United Nations Youth Ambassador for
Peace.
