Don’t be fooled – It’s not even a mansion!
Deep inside your minds, you picture D’Banj living in a paradise of sorts, with remote-controlled sofas, bikini-clad waitresses, Gordon Ramsay-like chefs, Olympic-sized swimming pool, convertible B&O screens and some decor machinery that gives the entire house the feel of Don Jazzy’s beats and D’Banj’s charm?
Nah, the Maryland property D’Banj calls home is not anything close to what you’d expect. Definitely not a mansion; and not the type of celeb crib that make your eyes wanna jump out of their sockets – you know the kind you see on MTV cribs? Nah!
The Mohits duplex houses D’Banj, Don Jazzy, D’prince, Kayswitch, Dr SID and Wande Coal; with regular overnight/long time guests including Ikechukwu, Special ED, Sauce Kid and others.
Situated in a private estate behind Planet One Entertainment, in Maryland, Lagos, the Mohits property is referred to, by those who’ve been there, as a ‘hostel’ of sorts.
As you drive into the street, you already have an idea this is the home for the boys – what with the cars of Ikechukwu, Special ED, Sauce Kid and others parked outside.
The uniformed security guard gives you a plain sheet to write your name on, requesting you indicate who you’re seeing and your purpose. He locks you out as he goes in to confirm if you should be allowed in or not.
Once in, the first thing you notice is the set of diesel generators and a water tank, all competing for the little space in the compound. Don’t mind the diesel spills on the floor – everyone uses diesel in Lagos!
A security door leads you in, and after a set of mini stairs, you see the large living room to the right. This is where most visitors to the Mohits home end up. Here, you’re faced with a large portrait painting of D’Banj, as well as a dozen plaques arranged on a TV stand. There’s sparse furnishing downstairs, plenty of space, and queer painting.
But upstairs, the parlour is smaller, and functions more like a waiting room. The guys sleep upstairs, as well as work when necessary. An entire room functions as Don Jazzy’s studio – here is where most of the award-winning hits are baked. And just seconds away is D’Banj’s room. Inside D’Banj’s bedroom, there’s a painting of him on the wall, as well as one where his parents appear to be praying for him. His bed is queerly-shaped – almost circular – and coloured red! We’re unsure how many rooms are in the house, But Don Jazzy, D’Prince and Wande Coal are also believed to have their rooms upstairs.
With assistants and guards running around to get stuff done, and guests thronging in by the minute, it’s a busy atmosphere, all day, all week inside the choked apartment.
‘D’Banj spends a lot of time in his room, you don’t even know when he has guests or not. And not everyone is allowed to enter his room. He likes to be very coded’ a Mohits aide told us. ‘Infact you can’t even get upstairs except you’re a very important visitor or you’re close to the house’.
A Mohits worker tells us it’s deliberate to have everyone living together. ‘We’ve work together, live together, play together. That’s the idea. If Wande has an idea at 1AM, we can quickly rush to do studio and put it down. We’re a close-knit team and we like it like that. You know very much, that everyone of us can afford our own houses. And we all have different properties in different parts of Lagos. But no matter what, there’ll still be a general place for us to call home’.
There are rumours D’Banj has properties in his native Ogun state, and in Lekki, on the outskirts of Lagos. But nothing has been confirmed.
And, opinions are divided on why a set of young men who claim to earn dozens of millions per week would continue to live together in a property that can barely contain them and their guests. ‘It’s either they don’t earn as much as they claim, or they just don’t care. But if I were half as big as D’Banj or Wande, I wouldn’t live in a place like that’ an artiste who has spent nights in the house told us.
What we think? Aint nothing wrong with a bunch of bachelors cohabiting. It’s worked for them well so far – so why change a winning formular? In a matter of years, the wedding bells will start ringing. When D’Banj or Don Jazzy say ‘I Do’, then we’ll know it’s time for the boys of the Mohits mansion to get moving…
