My fiancée dumped me cos’ of stardom – Tongolo star, D’banj - Nigerian Movies & Nollywood on Naijarules.com

#1 (**permalink**) 01-21-2006, 06:08 PM

For London-based Nigerian music star, Dapo Oyebanjo aka D’banj, fame, like a two-sided coin, has a bad side. D’banj, who came into limelight after releasing his debut single, “No Long Thing” with a hit track, “Tongolo” has lamented how his fiancée dumped him for another man because she could not cope with his stardom.

In an exclusive interview with Sunday Sun, D’banj declared: “You may not believe it but ‘Tongolo’ has cost me my fiancée. I had been dating this girl back in London and we were madly in love, even planning to get married but ‘Tongolo’ came along and changed everything. My fiancée justdisappeared.”

According to D’banj, problem began when his debut album, “No Long Thing” began receiving massive airplay on radio and TV stations inlondon: “Suddenly, a lot of girls were all over me. I was confused. I didn’t know what to do. My fiancée tried to cope but the stardom was too much for her.

One day, she just called me and said she could no longer cope with my ‘wahala’. She left me heartbroken and lonely. It is painful but I have since moved on with my life.”D’banj’s musical odyssey began when he left Nigeria in 2000 after graduating from the Lagos State University (LASU) with a degree in Engineering.

He narrated: “I had dreamt of meeting big stars in London that would animate my career. But instead of meeting big stars, I met Don Jazzy, who produced my debut album. Within the space of three years, we toured the length and breadth of Europe with Kora Award winners, JJC and 419 Squad. When the tour was over, Don T and I decided to record an album.”

Having successfully recorded an album, D’banj and his partner, Don T thought of a suitable slang to get their message across. They settled for ‘Di Koko”, which according to them, means “the main thing.”The musician explains thus: “Di Koko means the main thing. My Jamaican friends call me Ski’banj. Tongolo is all about ‘Di Koko’. In America and Europe, you could use the F word and get away with it but here in Nigeria, NBC would slam you with a ban that could short-circuit your career. Don T and I had to coin a word that would hide the meaning but yet pass the message across.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpage...2-2005-002.htm