I consider myself a 'new cat' in the music industry - D'banj declares

Legendary Nigerian musician Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, has declared himself “a new cat,” referring to himself as an up-and-coming artiste.

The 43-year-old singer, who has been in the music industry for 20 years, expressed that he still feels like he is just beginning, acknowledging the evolution of the music scene over the years.

In a recent interview with Hip TV, D’banj revealed plans to collaborate with new generation artistes on his upcoming album, ‘Entertainer’, which he described as a sequel to his globally celebrated 2008 album, ‘The Entertainer’.

He also discussed his role in the global acceptance of Nigerian music.

D’banj stated, “I am not the first [Nigerian artiste] to have done an international collaboration. We were just the first to have done it the way we did it. Usually, when you want to do a collaboration with an international artiste, it seemed before ours, like they were doing you a favour. But with the kind of grace that God gave us and the kind of team that we had, we were able to deliver one of the biggest [‘Mr Endowed’].

“I think that actually gave hope and visibility to the kids [new artistes] to know that they can do it. So, I feel like a very proud father if I may say. That’s why I am a cat again [up-and-coming artist]. Now, I want to feature not even international artistes but local artistes. I want to feature Ayra Starr, Rema, Ruger and Don Jazzy. Collaboration is the new competition.”