Nigerian ace singer, Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, has declared himself ‘a new cat’ (up-and-coming artiste).
Naija Latest Gist reports that the ‘Koko’ master, who will celebrate his 20th anniversary in the music industry on June 7, 2024, made the declaration in a recent interview with Hip TV.
The 43-year-old singer spoke about his role in the global acceptance of Nigerian music through international collaboration.
D’banj noted that the music industry has evolved over the years, and despite the number of years he has spent in it, he still feels like he is scratching the surface again.
The singer also disclosed that he would be working with some new-generation artistes on his upcoming album, ‘Entertainer,’ which he said was a sequel to his critically acclaimed 2008 album, ‘The Entertainer.’
He said, “I am not the first [Nigerian artist] 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 artist, 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 artists] 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 artiste]. Now, I want to feature not even international artistes but local artists. I want to feature Ayra Starr, Rema, Ruger and Don Jazzy. Collaboration is the new competition.”