D'banj celebrates 34th birthday

Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo (popularly known as D’Banj) is a Nigerian singer/songwriter, Harmonica player and an entrepreneur. He was born June 9, 1980 in Zaria in the northern parts of Nigeria to a military father and a business/entrepreneurial mother. He attended Nigerian Military School and later, the Nigeria Navy School Ogun State where he was a member of the school band. In 1999, D’Banj went on to study Mechanical Engineering at the Lagos State University. His passion for music was fuelled after he lost his military pilot trainee brother to a plane crash and he inherited his Harmonica. Unlike his military dad, D’Banj relocated to the United Kingdom where his pursuit for his love of music began. Dapo adopted the stage name D’Banj, a combination of his first name “Dapo” and his last name “Oyebanjo”. His debut album “No Long Ting” was released in 2005 and included the hit lead single “Tongolo”. D’Banj was a former member of Mo’Hits Records under the production of Don Jazzy. Their collective debut album “Curriculum Vitae” was released in December 2007, followed by “Entertainer” in June 2008. He has won several music awards including the awards for Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007, Artist of the Year at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2009 and BET Awards of 2011 for Best International Act: Africa and more. A chance meeting with Kanye West on a plane lead to his signing onto Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music and Mercury in the U.K His hit single “Oliver Twist”, an up-tempo dance fusion of Afrobeat and electronic dance music went on to top the African charts 2011 and was also a top 10 hit in the UK singles chart in 2012 reaching #2 on the UK R&B chart. D’Banj also signed a strategic partnership with Sony Music Entertainment’ RCA Africa label in a bid to change the business and face of music all across Africa. He was also appointed Nigeria’s first UNITED NATIONS YOUTH AMBASSADOR FOR PEACE. His recent singles some of which include “Top of the World”, “Finally”, “Don’t Tell Me Nonsense” all of which rose to be top of the charts both in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. He very recently recorded a soundtrack to the movie “Half of a Yellow Sun”, an adaptation of the novel by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie and released the video in January 2014. In recent times D’banj has been active in the area of Agriculture by partnering with African Union and Musician & Activist BONO’s through the ONE Organization to champion the Agriculture Industry in Africa for 2014. Dbanj has become a strong advocate for Agriculture and has been been declared an ambassador of Agriculture by the Ministry of Agriculture in Nigeria. In May 2014, Dbanj won an award in the category of ‘Best Selling African Artist’ at the World Music Awards in Monaco where he performed alongside Maria Carey, Miley Cyrus, Flo Rider and more. 2014 marks Dbanjs 10th year in the Entertainment Industry. Stay tuned for Events, Perfomances, Awards, Technology, Agricultural Project and more.