D’banj signs Durella
D’banj‘s quest for
dominance in the Nigerian music scene won’t stop now; he might have lost
out on signing Olamide and Davido –
but he has nicked another artiste, this time a familiar friend-foe.
The self-proclaimed ‘African Michael
Jacskon‘, we’ve learnt has signed his
friend-turned-foe-turned-friend Oluwadamilare Okulaja better known to
the public as Durella.
The move might however not come as a
surprise to everyone, considering that Banger Lee (that’s D’banj’s new
nickname by the way) and the ‘King of the Zanga’ Durella recently
settled their differences. Some weeks back, D’banj and his DB Records
crew released a single ‘Ibadi e‘ off their compilation album (D’
King’s Men) which featured a verse from Durella.
Fans were very excited to see the pair
had reunited after a very long and well publicized fall out between the
pop acts.
FLASHBACK
The beef between Durella and D’banj
started in late 2006 when the latter accused Banger Lee of jacking his
style of singing. Apparently when D’banj and Don Jazzy
returned to Nigeria in 2004, they met up with Durella and soon became
friends. Sources tell us that D’banj and Durella were quite close and
were spotted together in the studio several times.
‘I remember when Durella followed
D’banj, Don Jazzy to Jahborne’s music factory studio when D’banj wanted
to record ‘Tongolo’ remix’, a source recounts.
Of course D’banj had blown up and had
released his second album ‘Rundown’ in 2007 when Durella signed with TC
Records and finally launched his career. It didn’t take long
for Durella to blow up too with hits like ‘In da Zanga’, ‘Wiskolowiska’
and ‘Shayo’ gaining massive appeal. He also won the MTV and
Zain ‘Advance Warning’ reality show in 2008.
Then came the interviews; Durella
clearly stated that D’banj had stolen his style. The media of course
jumped on it, comparing both artistes. Truthfully, they did sound very
similar. And it seemed like D’banj was aware as he switched up the flow
on the 2008 Nigerian Pop classic album ‘The Entertainer’.
Their fight sort of fizzled out though as Durella later backed off. ‘D’banj
is my man, aaah, I like his mo gbono feli feli jam’, Durella told
Onome ‘BigTyme’ Oyaide in an interview on urban radio
station Rhythm FM 93.7 in late 2008.
BACK TO THE MATTER
We are told that D’banj and DB Records
bought out Durella’s contract from his present record label IKONIC
Music where the Pop act’s career has been in limbo since he
signed in mid-2011 after ending his three-year contract with TC Records.
His upcoming album ‘Back/Better/Bada’ has been
pushed back one too many times
‘Durella has signed with D’banj, he
(D’banj) bought out the contract, that’s what I can tell you’, a
source in Durella’s camp tells us.
A rep for D’banj refused to respond to
enquiries after asking us to send text messages to her mobile phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment