Global recording company Sony Music Entertainment is proud to announce the signing of Nigerian megastar D’Banj to its RCA Africa label. The breakthrough deal also includes a multi-album, worldwide exclusive contract with emerging Nigerian singer-songwriter star Kayswitch and a strategic partnership with D’Banj’s Nigerian record label DB Records, who’s catalog includes artists and producers such as J.Sol, Jay Sleek and DeeVee. Sony Music’s RCA Records label hosts a family of global superstar artists and a catalog of music, which includes some of the most important recordings in history. The signing landmarks a historic moment, which sees Africa’s number one superstar artist D’Banj join Africa’s number one music and entertainment company Sony Music.
MULTIPLE PAN AFRICAN AND INTERNATIONAL AWARD
WINNER D’BANJ EMBARKS ON A NEW CHAPTER IN HIS ILLUSTRIOUS
MORE-THAN-20-MILLION-RECORDS-SOLD CAREER WITH SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT –
IN ADDITION INKS A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP DEAL FOR DB RECORDS IN NIGERIA
INCLUDING A MULTI-ALBUM, FULL MANAGEMENT, WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT
WITH EMERGING STAR AND SONGWRITER KAYSWITCH
“Partnering with D’Banj is a seminal event for us at Sony Music
Entertainment Africa. We’ve always admired his talent and to be able to
assist with bringing D’Banj’s music to millions of fans, established and
new, across the continent is an honour for us. There are still so many
to whom an artist like D’Banj has so much to offer that we can see a
brand new era emanating from this phase in his career. We are
very excited about being a part of it. ” Says Managing Director of Sony
Music Entertainment Sean Watson.“Partnering with the leading music company in Africa is a natural fit for me and DB Records to ensure my music can be available to my fans across every corner of Africa and in countries where they’ve never been able to access my music in a legitimate way, instantly as its released anywhere else in the world. It’s a new era for Africa, the birthplace of music and I’m excited about this very powerful partnership with Sony Music through which we will give birth together to a new era with endless opportunities for my fans, producers, artists and the start of a new time for a revolution in music from Africa. Nothing is impossible!” says D’Banj
D’Banj (born Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo) signed to a Pan African multi-album deal with Sony Music’s RCA Records. He has also concluded an exclusive management deal with Sony Music and strategic partner ROCKSTAR4000 for the continent. Under the deal D’Banj will join Sony Music’s Pan African RCA Label in the family of such superstar artists as Usher, Chris Brown, R Kelly, Alicia Keys, P!nk, Christina Aguilera, Pitbull, Britney Spears, Jamie Foxx, Justin Timberlake, Ke$ha, T-Pain and Miguel.
“We are really excited to be partnering up with DBanj and his DB Records label. DBanj is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in Africa who continues to deliver world-class hits. What we’ve seen from DB Records so far is an energetic mix of hot new sounds and great new artists like Kayswitch, who we believe will impact right across Africa. The recent launch of iTunes in Africa means that Nigerian fans and those elsewhere on the continent will now readily be able to access this amazing music as soon as it comes to market.” Noted Spiro Damaskinos, Director of RCA Records Africa
“Since the first time I met the incredible talent that is D’Banj in Lagos a few years ago, headlining the first of many shows we did together, I knew he was destined for musical greatness. Indeed D’Banj went on to smash all expectations around the world. He has always flown the Nigerian and African flag higher and higher and broken down the barriers for many of Africa’s great talent to follow through. We are thrilled to now have D’Banj in the family with Sony Music and RCA Records and to represent him across the African continent. Together we can take his amazing music and talent to even greater heights and new audiences, as well as launch emerging new stars such as Kayswitch through this landmark partnership” says Jandre Louw, FOUNDER and CEO of ROCKSTAR4000
DBANJ (a stage name that is a combination of the first letter of his first name and part of his last name) is an extremely talented Nigerian-born, singer-songwriter-musician who has become an International Superstar blending sounds from AfroBeats, AfroPop and AfroFusion music genres. D’Banj literally broke contemporary sounds and music from Africa onto the mainstream Global stage recently with his smash-hit ‘Oliver Twist’. ‘Oliver Twist’ has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide to date. The single debuted at number 9 on the UK National charts just behind the likes of Rihanna and Tulisa.
D’BANJ’s musical mentor and influence is the late Afrobeat Maestro – the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti and like him, he performs in Yoruba, English and Pidgin English.
As an energetic, crowd-pleasing live entertainer, D’BANJ has performed alongside many international artists on stages all over the world from the 1st Edition of the MTV Africa Music Awards to the ‘Koko Concert‘ LIVE in London at the O2 Arena amongst others.
As a recording artist and performer D’BANJ has won a whole host of awards including Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007, Artist of the Year at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2009, BET Awards of 2011 for Best International Act, Best African Act – (MOBO Awards 2012), Most Gifted Male Video of the Year (Channel O 2012 MVA’s).
D’Banj has also established himself as a television celebrity on Nigerian TV’s “Koko Mansion”.
In 2011 Kanye West penned a deal with D’banj onto his G.O.O.D. Music label in the USA. D’Banj also signed with Mercury in the UK. Over the course of his career D’BANJ has worked with Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Jay Z, Kid Cudi, LA Reid, Tinie Tempah and Rio Ferdinand. A humanitarian at heart, D’BANJ is the founder of Koko Foundation for Youth and Peace Development. He is also Nigeria’s first United Nations Youth Ambassador for Peace.
“The Sony Music / D’Banj strategic partnership is the key catalyst to change the business and face of Music across Africa, especially in the key areas of quality, distribution and content management”, says the Chidi Okeke, Managing Director of MComm, leading West African music Distribution Company and strategic partner to Sony in the region. “This deal represents a major breakthrough in achieving our vision of delivering quality music across the continent on diverse platforms. The immediate benefits include the improvement in the distribution value chain, quality control and direct economic benefits to individual parties and the continent at large. We are positioned to create the necessary support platforms and initiatives to drive this partnership to the maximum, and the long-term plan is to fully penetrate the significantly untapped African market for music and content in general” he added.
D’Banj’s passionate drive, coupled to his talent and creativity, regularly delivers appealing music productions and entertaining live performances ensuring his continuous relevance in the music market. He remains one of the most celebrated superstars from Nigeria and the African continent to break into the international music scene.
KaySwitch ‘D Produkt’ (Born as Kehinde Oladotun Oyebanjo), began his journey into music in secondary school, where he used to rap with his friends for fun. Rapping gradually became a part of him and later singing and songwriting. Influenced by iconic stars such as Sizzla Kalonji, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Youssou N’dour, his greatest musical influence was his older brother, D’Banj, who played a major role in KaySwitch’s love and passion for music and entertainment. KaySwitch ‘D Produkt’ spent a lot of time with his brother D’Banj and gradually developed his own musical style and direction, but it was not until his first encounter with the mic in 2005 while recording a track with his friend Dr. Frabz in the studio that he decided to take up music professionally.
His past affiliation with Mohits Records, formed by his older brother, D’Banj and Don Jazzy, gave him the time to develop his skills in the studio, and become a highly skilled recording and performing artist. From the US to the UK, India, Asia, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Dubai and many more countries around the world, KaySwitch ‘D Produkt’ has toured with his brother D’Banj and also performed at major shows such as the This Day Show, Star Mega Jam, Koko concert and the Calabar festival.
His music is a reflection of his calm and urban style as well as his eccentricity. KaySwitch believes in being the best in whatever he does in life and looking outside the box by creating something unexpected and different. He lives by the saying “send on” which he interprets as “bringing on blessing and good things to come”. KaySwitch ‘D Produkt’ is most definitely a force to be reckoned with in the music world.
The signing of D’banj and KaySwitch is part of Sony Music Entertainment Africa’s belief that Africa is an important & exciting music development frontier. The company has set its sights on becoming the primary partner of the best Africa has to offer and has confidence that through such partnerships, African musicians can achieve new Pan African and Global success.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA & PRESS: Louise.Pillay@sonymusic.com
ROCKSTAR4000 MEDIA & PRESS: media@rockstar4000.com
BOOKINGS FOR LIVE PERFORMANCES OR APPEARANCES: bookings@rockstar4000.com
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