You might have been wondering why the veteran singer and pop star Dbanj popularly known as bangalee has been sticking around….

He hangs on to the Nigerian music scene, devising new ways to pivot his brand to generate value. Where he can’t gain traction from the music, he cooks up brand engagement deals to get by and bring in money for everyone.

That’s what he has done for some of the biggest brands, with Ciroc, Apple, GLO , and MTN partnering with him at different points to make money from the music. And trust D’banj, he possesses a brand that is bigger than his music. He knows how to use it for activations, and coupled with his excellent ‘people’ skills, he becomes impossible to resist.

But there’s a little catch to this. While D’banj and his brand are far bigger than the music he makes at the moment, there’s still a need for it. His music contributes a lot to his ability to sign up the best deals for himself.

You could liken D’banj and his music to a Lamborghini and its ignition. The car is amazing to see, its features are a dream to everyone around, and when it hits the road, its grace, elegance and aesthetic luxury makes it a god among cars. But it can never hit the road if the ignition fails. It stays stuck.

For D’banj to sell his brand name, and milk it for money, he needs to constantly drop the music which would catapult his name into more homes. People generally judge D’banj’s music for what they can get from it; is it a jam or not? Is it ‘sweet’? Can we bump to it? Or it is just trash. That’s what you get from the music.

But for D’banj, his music is more branding than anything else. He possesses a strong distribution and promotional machine, which pushes the music through numerous media channels online, TV, radio and many others. Irrespective of whether the song is good or not, it is fed to you by the media. You first see D’banj on your screen, and he invades your consciousness. That’s marketing.

That’s all he needs to keep his brand name alive, and leverage on it to market his brand and make money. That’s all its about. It doesn’t matter whether you love the song or not. As long as you watch and listen, he has you by the balls.

D’banj receives the most hate on social media regarding the quality of his music. In recent years, only ‘Emergency’ has found a way to become a hit. And D’banj partnered with phone-trading giant, SLOT, to run a campaign with the song. It’s pure genius.


Loving a D’banj song is a bonus. And it isn’t exactly his business. His job is to make the music, it’s your choice to love it or not. But in order to make a decision on the music, you have to watch nd listen, and that’s where he gets into your mind.

And that’s all he needs. That chance to market himself to you, and grow a brand that many of you keep writing off. It’s pure genius.