He may not be popular as Dapo Oyebanji, but D’banj or Koko Master is an international phenomenon. The choir reject as come a long way from his days with JJC and 419 Squad to sharing the stage with Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Kelly Rowland. The Ogun State-born artiste has not only found a big space in his fans’ CD shelve he has found his ways into intimate areas of some of his female admirers. In this interview with Senior Reporter, Ifeoma Meze, D’banj opens up on his art and act.

You are featuring international artistes like Kanye West and Jay-Z in your soon-to-be-released album titled Good Music. Very few Nigerian artistes have achieved that feat. What is the secret behind this success?

It’s just God and hard work. It’s believing in God and the ability to follow your dreams. I am a very positive person and most importantly I invest in myself. I like developing myself and being very hardworking. If you like tell me anything, it’s what I believe in I will do. You just have to believe in who you are and, however you look at it, it’s still God. You cannot avoid it.

You have achieved a lot in your career and still attaining higher grounds as each day unfolds, when are you planning to settle down?

I will marry when I see the right person to marry.

What about Genevieve Nnaji?

Why do you people keep calling Genevieve? That is like a long time ago. I thought you people had gotten over that. I am still searching.

What is the greatest mistake you have ever made?

I have made mistakes but I don’t think there is one that I can say is the greatest. Everything I have ever done usually comes out well. Even the ones that are mistakes, there is still something good that it has done for me.

If there is an unanticipated problem, like a disaster, how will you start all over?

Then you rearrange. You start from where you see yourself. I have been planning my album for a year now. If I didn’t see Snoop, I would have done it with someone else. You just have to keep moving and don’t give up. Even if you take away everything I have right now, as long as you don’t kill me, I will start from somewhere.

With the status you have now it might be very hard for you to have time for God

Why do you say that? God is everywhere.

How close are you to God?

I can’t tell you how close I am to God because He is the only one that knows I have a relationship with Him and I know that when I talk to Him, He answers me. I told Him that I wanted a big breakthrough and He made it possible. I told Him I wanted a collaboration, He did it for me. I told him I wanted MTV award, He gave me. He does not give me what I don’t like or what I don’t need.

Have you spoken to Him about the woman you will marry?

I have and who says He hasn’t answered me, because you will never know. When it comes to relationship your best friend might be your wife and she is just still your best friend. When I first met Don Jazzy, he wasn’t my friend. Now he is my best friend of six, seven, 10 years down the line. When I met Don Jazzy, I thought he was a Jamaican. So you meet people and you just have an open mind and you never can tell what will happen. Tomorrow, it might be someone that I have dated a while ago that will be my woman. She might be someone that I just met but it has to be at the right time. I don’t think God will introduce someone to me when He knows I am not ready.

Do you think that when you finally get married that you might cheat on your wife?

I don’t know, I don’t think about that. My dad never cheated on my mother. I think my father is the most faithful man I know.

Are you going to follow his footsteps?

I am not planning because I came from him, and if I came from him, I must possess one or two things that are from him. When I get married, I will know but I am not married so I don’t know whether I will cheat or not.

Dapo Oyebanji outside the music scene is quite different from D’banj the artiste, the two personalities are contradictory, why is that?

It’s showbiz. If you want to sell music, you have to put some flavour. I am Gemini, we can easily carry two different personalities but for me, I know that showbiz is an act so you have to act. Like when I came into the industry, I didn’t say ‘koko’ was sex but people wanted ‘koko’ to be affiliated to that and we followed them. I am human and I do everything humans do.

Some feel your personality represents only sex, what do you say about that?

Those are the people that listen to music and the album with one ear. They hear ‘do you like the ‘koko’?” and they forget to hear ‘Loke oh, la ma lo’ or you hear ‘Fall in love’ and you forget to hear ‘Olorun maje’ and you tell me I represent sex. People just listen to music and say what they want to say and I am tired of trying to convince people. Those who take the time to listen and read will know that I am just being an entertainer and there are some sense in the songs that I put out there. That is what people like me all over the world do, we are entertainers, but that does not mean that we are dumb or we don’t know where we are going or we don’t know what we are doing. We just feed you with what you want to hear.

What inspired the remix of Mr Endowed with Snoop?

Like I said, it’s a journey. We have been on this journey for a while trying to get this international break. I met a lot of people before then like Cash Money, Pepple and many other international artistes but choosing Snoop personally for me was the right thing because he was such a veteran in the industry. For me, whatever he says has credibility. When we played the song ‘Mr Endowed’ for him, he liked the song and I think he did a good job with it.

How much did you pay him to do the remix?

I don’t like talking about it.

Since you are now going international, will you still have the time to record back home in Nigeria because the video clip with Kanye West and Jay Z shows they are buying into your person and music?

I am not new in the industry. I did it from here. There is nothing that can keep me from my country. It’s my home. I have passed the level of getting carried away by another man’s land. Except if I get married to someone like Rihanna.

So if you marry Rihanna you may not step foot in this country?

Why not? I will bring her here.

How come after all the food and booze you are still slim?

I try to stay slim. I think I am born like this. I will try putting on some weight soon. I hardly go to the gym. My physique is natural.

Would you still be singing till you are like 60?

We have Steven Wonder still singing, we have P. Diddy who is in his 40s who is still singing so I will always be around. I know I will do music as long as God gives me life. Maybe by then I will be performing like this ‘if you know this song, let me hear you say, yea yea!’

So you are not planning to relocate?

No. I can stay months outside the country but I will always be back.

So we should expect more international acts in your albums soon

Just expect anybody. I will be recording with anybody that fits in. I have spoken with almost everybody except Beyonce. So just sit back and relax.

Having done a song with Snoop, has it opened doors for you?

It has put me on the level that everybody classifies you as an international artiste. Even before I met Kanye West, doing the song with Snoop, I have already got shows from Europe, Dubai, Tanzania and I got a show in Kenya. All through this year that is what we are going to do. You spend a lot of money and invest, then when God says it is the time, he gives you a good turnover. The song has picked up in a lot of places. A lot of people like the song. They play it in Las Vegas. So, meeting Kanye and he getting to know I did a song with Snoop, got him interested. Maybe if I had not done that job with Snoop he would have driven me away.

What do you do when you relax?

I just chill. I love movies. I watch a lot of series.

Do you relax alone?

I relax alone sometimes. There are times you prefer to relax alone, no distractions. Sometimes you want to be with only the guys playing games and sometimes you want to be with girls. It just depends on your mood and it’s natural.

Do you go clubbing all the time?

I try but not that often. I come to the Koko Lounge.

How do you manage your friends?

I don’t really have many friends.

What about girls?

I don’t have a girlfriend

You must be a virgin then?

I didn’t tell you I don’t have sex if that is what you mean. That I don’t have a girlfriend does not mean I am a virgin.

What do you do when a girl throws herself at you?

They usually don’t. That does not happen because my people do not allow you come that close. Well let’s say she finds the opportunity and she throws herself at me and she is nice enough and I am feeling like you know. I don’t know what I will do.

You have a lot of energy on stage while performing; a lot of people think it’s not natural. Are you on drugs or crack?

People have said a lot about me regarding that. Some say I do cocaine, I do weed. All I can say is, ask my father. I was born like this. I was born very hyper. I don’t do drugs. Anytime I try to drink, I like Hennessy and champagne but they make me dull. If I wake up in the morning, I am livelier than when I drink. I am high on life itself. Many think I wear glasses because I am high, it’s all lies.

What would you say is the worst challenge you have ever faced?

Nobody wanted to help me at the beginning.

How are you going to make sure that the younger musicians coming up do not face what you faced in their own struggle to the top?

That is why when I got to America, I did not take their money and just sign. I would have taken money, signed and enjoyed my life. I decided to create something that every other artiste in Nigeria and Africa can benefit from. I want to create something so that my people coming up will not need to beg. When I paid that large amount of money to do that song with Snoop, I know that even a Wizkid in his own time can tell anybody that wants to sponsor him to help push him to do a collaboration with international artistes. I believe that what we have done by having that song with Snoop is creating better opportunity for our people out there. Now that we have done it, in the next few months, you will start seeing collaborations with international artistes soon. Any boy wey no get money will want to feature an international artiste in his songs too. I don’t want to be proud or anything, since we are the first, we are pioneers.

Do you think you can get an international award with the ‘Mr Endowed’ remix with Snoop?

I was nominated with Tuface for Mobo awards and he won it. Things have changed now but you still don’t know the criteria that they use in choosing their winner. If I get an award based on that, I will appreciate it but I will not like them to give me an award just because I did a song with Snoop. Anybody can do a song with anybody. I would want them to give me an award based on the fact that they did their research and they accepted that I have really worked hard at what I am doing.

When should we expect the next edition of Koko Mansion?

We have already started processing that. This time, we are focusing on signing our first lady in Mo’Hit because the record label is mostly dominated by men. This time around we want to sign a woman. For us to sign a woman, we want to get her from the second edition of Koko Mansion. The edition will be about girl entertainers. Girls who can play instruments, girl singers, you can be a female rapper. I will be picking an all female bands from there. I want to be versatile. I want to have girls playing for me.

How soon are we to expect this edition?

It was supposed to come before the end of the year but Good Music album came in, so now I don’t know. I have to consult with the people managing the programme and know how we can fix it for this year. If there is time, we can move it to the last quarter of the year but if there is no time, we can leave it for next year. We are not in a rush.

With your artistic nature, have you thought about acting?

They have given me a lot of offers but I cannot do that now. I don’t have the time, unless I own the movie.

There was this rumour that you fought over a woman with Ikechukwu, is it true?

I can never fight over a woman. That is one thing you can never catch me doing.

But are you guys still friends?

Yes, just a few weekends ago at a wedding, we performed ‘Critical’ together.

Obviously he is not in Mo’Hits again

No, he has his own thing now called Worlds Famous Academy and he has released an album. I had not seen him in a while before that event. As we were performing on stage, a lot of people were surprised.

If I want to become a D’banj, what are the qualities I have to possess?

You have to be very hardworking and straight forward.

Why do you always wear glasses?

When I first came into the industry, I wanted to create my own personality. Just like superman pulls off his shirt to show his Superman logo, I cannot start pulling off my shirt every time to signify my person so I picked up wearing glasses. The glasses kind of keep the private me. When I remove the glasses, I am Dapo and when I wear the glasses, I am D’banj.

Like how many of it do you have?

I should have over 100

Do you have a popular designer?

I used to like Dolce and Gabanna but now I try to do what fits me and I try to do some customised stuff. Now that I am moving to America, I don’t think I will pay for any again, na dash dem go dey dash me