D’banj has opened up on his relationship with his record label artistes and Tonto Dikeh who has left the label. The pop singer also talked about marriage, and revealed that record labels died after Mohits to journalists during MTVBase media hangout.
On Tonto Dikeh –
“Going back to your question, I had a meeting with my team last year and I told all of them from my producer to singers that they must really work hard in 2016. I lead by example.
I am not using inside resources; I now work with anybody from anywhere. For instance, I never met the producer of ‘Emergency’ before he did the song. A Nigerian that I had never met before also produced the next song I plan to drop soon. I featured a South African on it. I want everyone on the label to follow that direction because I have made up my mind that we cannot continue to do the same thing and expect results.
Though I believe that all my artistes including Tonto Dikeh can stand alone, I feel we should do things differently. If you look at the artistes on the label, you would agree with me that there is something special about them.
Also, when a woman is married, it becomes a different ball game. I have not seen Tonto since her marriage and she has a child right now too. She has been out of the country.
When we spoke, the last thing she told me was that she wanted to concentrate on her foundation before any other thing. Right now, I just want to continue to work with great talents from different places.”
I am not using inside resources; I now work with anybody from anywhere. For instance, I never met the producer of ‘Emergency’ before he did the song. A Nigerian that I had never met before also produced the next song I plan to drop soon. I featured a South African on it. I want everyone on the label to follow that direction because I have made up my mind that we cannot continue to do the same thing and expect results.
Though I believe that all my artistes including Tonto Dikeh can stand alone, I feel we should do things differently. If you look at the artistes on the label, you would agree with me that there is something special about them.
Also, when a woman is married, it becomes a different ball game. I have not seen Tonto since her marriage and she has a child right now too. She has been out of the country.
When we spoke, the last thing she told me was that she wanted to concentrate on her foundation before any other thing. Right now, I just want to continue to work with great talents from different places.”
On record labels in Nigeria-
“There is no point fooling one another; record labels in Nigeria died after Mo’ Hits. I am saying the truth; there is no record label again. Any artiste that buys a laptop, produces a song and manages to get his uncle to pay for the video could as well call himself a record label owner. A record label must have distribution channels in place.”
On Marriage-
“Who says I am not married? I am not married but if I want to I would do it secretly. I am tired of people asking me that question; it is my life.”
“Getting married won’t change my music or anything and I am not trying to get married so as to enter another phase in my life. My wife doesn’ t need fame; my fame is enough for the whole family.”
