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. Continue after the cut...
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.
“The Sony Music / D’Banj strategic partnership is
the key catalyst to change the business and face of Music across Africa,
especially in the key areas of quality, distribution and content management”,
says the Chidi Okeke, Managing Director of MComm, leading West African music
Distribution Company and strategic partner to Sony in the region.
“This deal
represents a major breakthrough in achieving our vision of delivering quality
music across the continent on diverse platforms. The immediate benefits include
the improvement in the distribution value chain, quality control and direct
economic benefits to individual parties and the continent at large. We are positioned
to create the necessary support platforms and initiatives to drive this
partnership to the maximum, and the long-term plan is to fully penetrate the
significantly untapped African market for music and content in general” he
added.
D’Banj’s passionate drive, coupled to his talent and
creativity, regularly delivers appealing music productions and entertaining
live performances ensuring his continuous relevance in the music market. He remains one of the most celebrated
superstars from Nigeria and the African continent to break into the
international music scene.
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