Are you kidding me? 6 and a half reasons Don Jazzy will NOT lose

by Lekan Olanrewaju

So I read my colleague’s piece on Don Jazzy being the one to lose in the Mo’ Hits fall out and I had to scoff. As expected, my eyes were subjected to opinions, in agreement or otherwise, from people who believe there’s some form of glory in pretending to be the online version of Simon Cowell to a bunch of people they most likely don’t even know, but that’s not why we’re here.

I would start in the vein of my colleague and state that I am #TeamDonJazzy or #TeamDBanj but I am unabashedly, neither. I’ve never for one second stopped to consider whether D’banj was good or bad at anything although I’ve caught myself a few times thinking how great a beat maker Don Jazzy is.
That said, I find the idea that Don Jazzy will be the loser in this case, highly improbable.

Here’s why:

D Banj has Kanye. Okay, now what?

Sure, Kanye appeared in D’Banj’s latest video. But, excuse me while I ask, “then what”? What has Kanye done for D’Banj so far beyond shouting him out on Twitter? He got him doing back up (to put it nicely) “vocals” on a song by someone called Lil Issue (I mean who is that?) Whoop-de-doo. As far as the Nigerian public goes, all that “deal” can bring D’banj is hype. Success? That’s not how the American music industry works. The idea of having a Nigerian musician linked to Kanye West will inevitably rouse the interests of any music lover out there. But what happens when the novelty of that wears off? How many Nigerians know or will bother trying to figure out who a “Lil Issue” is?

D’Banj is the performer. So?

Yes, D’Banj is the performer. The same performer accused of being boring at the Koko Concert and Rhythm Unplugged shows last year. Whitney (Houston) and Michael (Jackson) supposedly had the love of the public “through thick and thin”. Really? It’s easy to forget, due to the (unfortunately) largely hypocritical outpourings of affection that trailed their deaths, that they were once the butt of ridicule by the public. In fact, many would say being in the public eye caused many of their problems but that’s neither here nor there at this point. The fact is, certain things are just hard to live down, and the public doesn’t let go that easily. A more recent example would be Chris Brown. Despite the attempts by the media and members of the industry themselves (Rihanna, I’m looking at you) to make us forget “the incident”, people aren’t just going to pretend like it never happened. Even a public endorsement by the woman he beat up isn’t about to wash away his sins; hearing him sing about all the different ways he wants to enjoy a “cake” isn’t going to make me think of him as anything beyond a woman beater (thankfully I have an edit of the song free of his voice so I can continue to enjoy it in all its sexually over the top catchiness). His songs get played on the radio, MTV shoves his videos down our throats, he performed at The Grammys twice, even won one, but his last album, released almost a year ago hasn’t even gone platinum. Despite the attempts by “insiders” to convince us it’s some sort of “comeback”, it hasn’t even sold up to a million copies worldwide. Yes, it’s a flop. And D’Banj, even though he (thankfully) hasn’t beaten a woman to unconsciousness, could very well become a flop in that manner. The public loves to take sides, and hey, it’s clear Don Jazzy is the one receiving all the goodwill in this situation. I mean, the dude shares credit on Twitter, of course people are going to support him! Especially when the other option is to either “mind your own business” (which is pretty much a foreign concept to Nigerians) or support the guy who for a while now has seemed determined to present himself as the most arrogant -(insert preferred word for unpleasant here) person ever.

Don Jazzy’s losing it? Hardly.

Don Jazzy’s biggest power is his mystique? Errr, no. It may play a huge part in his “image”, but I highly doubt people listen to songs produced by him because they think by so doing they can somehow discover a little more about that guy who bizarrely insists on always whispering into D’Banj’s ears.
When people hear a song produced by Don Jazzy is about to be released, anticipation builds. Why? Because, they’re sure that it will be, in no equivocal terms, a jam. MI has made “Short black boy” a very prominent part of his brand, but if 24 hours to the release of Illegal Music 2 he were to suddenly transform into a 6 foot plus light-skinned fellow, would that stop downloads of the mixtape from crashing any site onto which it were hosted?

Get off the stage

This is, admittedly, a near faultless point. Let’s face it, Don Jazzy has little business adding his indistinguishable croaks to a track. Granted there’s a certain melodic catchiness to his “lepa on the floor” line from Tiwa Savage’s Without My Heart but overall his feature on that song could have been done without. That said, is that going to ruin his career? I can only laugh as I say, hardly. The notion that this will cause him to lose is, quite frankly, over the top and pointlessly dramatic.

Don Jazzy is boring

Another faultless point. At least as far as I know. But the question is, who cares? Seriously. Don Jazzy splitting from D’Banj doesn’t necessarily mean he needs to now take the spotlight. He can be boring all he wants while remaining in the background, like he always has. Yes, D’banj may possess the uncanny ability to confidently spew out meaningless dribble about “kokolets” and what not, but what happens when the novelty of that wears off and he actually has to answer a question with some semblance of intelligence? Judging by the debacle that was his Sahara Reporter’s interview, the answer to that is a resounding “eh….”
Don Jazzy on the other hand managed to handle the public outcry over his involvement, or lack thereof in the Occupy Nigeria protests, much better. A series of well worded tweets was all it took to get people back on his side. Boring or not, the man knows what he’s doing.

Don Jazzy has magic fingers. Well, duh?

Well, he does. Ikechukwu and Dr Sid/DPrince and whatever the rest of the “crew” are called may effectively be flops now but their only chances at success were due, in no small part, to Don Jazzy.

Yes. Everyone “knew” Ikechukwu before Don Jazzy hooked up with him, how could we not? What with him shrieking “My name is Ikeeeeechukwu” left and right like a sex-starved banshee. But, the only time anyone ever took him or his music seriously, or at least seriously enough to listen to was more than likely with “Wine am well’. And no, D’Banj’s verse and feature in the video were not the reason. People may have danced to D’Prince’s “Omoba” in the club but it sure as hell wasn’t because of anything special he added to the song.

Davido

This is my “half reason”. I’ll admit I’m pulling this out of nowhere in particular. But what if? Yes, Davido is already insanely popular now. He’s managed to achieve a lot without the backing of any popular or already established music industry honchos like Banky or Don Jazzy. So what if he somehow got with Don Jazzy? Sonia debacle aside, how many would be able to resist Davido “nananinanano’-ing on a Don Jazzy beat? He already has the females (and males, apparently) fawning over his dimples so imagine what would come of that pairing? Still think D’Banj is irreplaceable?

Comments (38)

  1. Lwkmd..some ppl r so dumb….dbanj is wack witout don jazzy's instrumental n mixing… Don jazzy z a producer 4 jeeez name..he totaly hav nothng 2 lose….hundred of good naija *star* artist wil wana work wit don jazzy..n dont forget foreign artistz also feelz hs beatz

  2. You can guys are all looking at things from a different point… Firstly dbanj might just loose but much later cos i want to see how kanye will blend his african style with is music. Secondly i though you guys would see that the illuminati is at work here…… Just maybe don jazzy have refused to join thats why dbanj has been advised to stay away from him.

  3. D'banj cant loss While Don Jazzy can only loss by having a flop artist under him, we all knw Koko Master has his name already, many awards and girls cant do without his slang "KOKO".. Sentiment apart D'banj is a truly entertainer who understand d kind of beat and song his fans will buy and dance to… None of dem is a failure but Don Jazzy have a lot of work to do b'cos Koko Master cannot be replaced.

  4. Well well dis article is very borin nd doesn't even make any sense compared to d previous one!!! Ur points ar waky u're taking lines from d oda article bcos u're nt constructive nd who even employ pple lyk yu Aargh beta go get a jamb form………I love dbanj nd donJ jes hope dey ar both beta on deir sydes sha.

  5. I hate it wen dey say don jazzy'll loose…… Cmon y'al. U al rememba wen nd whr don Jazzy pickd d'banj….. He ws as wack as hell…. Don jazz hs don it b4, he sure'l do it again…… D'banj is no beta dan some of dis new artiste. I knew D'banj ws arogant nd al dat bt i neva knew he culd be such a snitch. Nutin personal, luv his music, wish him wel nd wish don jazzy al d best 2.. To me Don jazzy's 9ja's best producer, so he'l surely make it.

  6. d writer of this has a knot unscrewed in his head for not making research on chris brown's last record before spewing rubbish,his album went platinum months back u dumb skull…keep ur ignorance 2 urself

  7. I honestly wish I could understand why everyone is dwelling on the supposed separation. Seriously?

  8. Who bashed who? Pls stick to what you know!

  9. lwkmd @ ikechukwu ''shireking like a sex-starved banshee'' dat was too harsh on d poor dude. I expect a fire back from ikechukwu..

    And dis write-up is vry poor…ynaija shld hv more constructive reasons…d guy on tooxclusive did a bera job

  10. Nice 1 adewale. You hit the nail on the head with d illustration of bitter yam & palm-oil. Don baba J makes nonsense sound like good music. Without his skill, nonsense will sound like nonsense. I wish dbanj goodluck though, hopefully he can find ororo oil (in kanye) to substitute the palm oil

  11. Culdn't imagine hw blindly pple av been psyching up Dbanj!! D guys is just 1 noisy daft musician enhanced by beats made by DJazzy as it is d case wiv most contemporary African hip-hop musicians. Hw wuldn't take up 2 2months b4 he moves off radar wiv his stubborn nd rigid attitude. By d way, d writer is totally being biased 2wards Breezy, d nigga sorry so f**king move on.

  12. Why dwell on a past article, I expected fresh points. Whoever wrote this can surely do better.

  13. Forget all they are saying, the Illuminati is at work. Africa is their target and Nigeria is the only source of getting in and who are those that can make it happen? Don Jazzy and Dbanj. It's no coincidence that they were signed. Seriously, why would Kanye sign both of them? Are there no better producers or artistes in the US? Why did Dbanj release the song "Oliver Twist" months after he got signed on to GOOD Music? We all know the story of "Oliver Twist", i want more wealth that's why i got signed on to GOOD Music. We all know they won't give you a deal if you aint willing to join the Illuminati. Don Jazzy has a change of heart, that's why he has issues with Dbanj. Only time will tell.

  14. Seriously!lemme yan d fact dat dbanj will lose!dat guy don dey expirer na jst tym!don jazzy is 4eva young.so abeg stop dis talk and let's see who cms out in d nex 7month!

  15. P.S. Fuck don jazzy tho. He is rich. N livin good. Me am on to ma sh*t. Am not on his nuts. I jst say wat I feel. Hope we all on d same page. Peace out

  16. @funk on thanx. Nd I will also like to point out. Chris brown's album actually went platinum. But who is selling 10 million albums dis days. U only get paper thru ur shows. Nd trust me chris brown is gettin dat gwap n we luv him. If breezy was from naija, nobody will still be talkn abt him beatin rihanna. Who knows wat she did 2 him. Nd trust me D'banj is goin 2 be a flop. Nd its not as if Don jazzy is nt signed 2 G.o.o.d music. He proDuced for beyonce or was it 4 WTT? Forgot. Never liked D'banj's music anyway. N jazzy is nt borin. He made mr endowd catchy. Wande coal,Dr sid. Dey r a talent. D'banj can go wt his wack bro. Jazzy jst need 2 be versatile dats it. He shuld work wt pple like eedris,Duncan mighty n som new artist.

  17. I don’t care about Donjazzy or Dbanj. Whatever! But I do care about the part where you wrote about -Ikeeeeeeeeeechukwu’. Hahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahaha. I laughed so hard I fell off my chair. Oh my gosh!!! I can’t seem to stop laffing. LMAO!!!

  18. God Bless you "P" for furnishing them with those examples. I hope people realize producers outlast artists. And that Kanye wouldn't have time for D'Banj. Don Jazzy WILL NOT lose more. Se fini!

  19. Lmao! Dat part wer he said Ikechukwu was shrieking Ikeee..chu..kwu! like a sex starved banshee! Lmfao! Chai! Omo u bad o. Nice one tho. Thumbs up.

  20. Okay…..I get your point but as a reporter, you didnt do a good job in bieng objective about the wole issue. I could tell u had sentiments towards jazzy

  21. Hehehe…the dig directed @ ikechukwu "sex-starved banshee" ROTF

  22. I will advice u guys to leave the DRUG BARONS to their game.they will eventually sort their issues out.cos d kind of money these guys have;believe me its not from music!

  23. Dbanj is a shitty performer I almost cried at koko concert about my wasted money, meanwhile Don jazzy playing on the drums got everyone screaming in glee. I do believe Dbanj will survive but successfully I strongly doubt that, I mean look what they did to big Sean and J cole. Dbanj doesn't even rap or sing or have proper lyrics. He might as well be soulja boy at this point. . . btw Chris Brown's album actually went platinum and his shows sell out in hours (Do your research properly). . . and he won a grammy ehm what else does he need? when daft women on twitter were openly claiming they'll let him beat them. people can hate all they want that woman batterer is getting paper. sadly

  24. @harmattan…LOL!no,I did not!

  25. @harmattan..LOL.no I didn't!

  26. Lol "Dee" wrote that other article

  27. The argument on why dbanj is going to flop is simple. Kanye needed to enter Africa. He needed an Ambassador. The only place he could look to in Black Africa was Nigeria. Reasons are apparent. Who could he have chosen? Dbanj of course. He believes he is charismatic. Its not beans to have been chosen by the president of the most populous nation in Africa to represent the Nigerian Youth however controversial. We all know its not like Dbanj's voice is extra-ordinary.

    So back to my premise. He chose him because he believes he is charismatic in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. His charisma wasn't built on himself. It was built as a team and can best survive as a team. With the state of affairs now, apparently, to make Dbanj hit in Nigeria and even Africa, he will need Kanye! Loror kon, dbanj ti gungi korja ewe – Dbanj has climbed the tree beyond the leaves. And that's why you see Kanye and Sean in his video. The only reason anyone will want to go to dbanj's show if ever he does one in Nigeria would be to see Kanye. Otorn! Not that Dbanj will blow our minds as he didn't at Koko Concert even though Don Jazzy, am sure, spent TIME on the beat that brought him on stage.

    Lemmi make you understand this logic another way, if the reason we chose to eat a Bitter Yam was because Palm Oil always accompanied it. What becomes of the Yam when we are unable to find Palm Oil. My Dear, don't kill yourself o. Don't swallow Bitter Yam o. E hen! Lol.

    Am sure the President can't and won't use Dbanj for campaigns. Am sure Dbanj's songs won't be better than those of Nigeria's upcoming artistes because even Cobhams doesn't have Don Jazzy's style. Cobhams is GOOD o. Don't misconstrue my point o. But na different categories dem dey. Dbanj's 'i-no-get-time-to-farabale-kinda-music can only be produced by Don Jazzzy at the moment. Believe it or leave it. Am actually thirsty to listen to a Dbanj's song that Don Jazzy didn't make the Beat. As in. Oshikoshi!

  28. Yeah….what Ʊ said might be true though,but you didn't balance it,you were biased all the way. I'm å die hard fan of both of them,infact let's be realistic,they have å mutual fan base.And you shouldn't have brought up the Chris Brown issue,we all make mistakes.It all depends on how we handle it,you're just an hater.I wish D̶̲̥̅̊'banj $ Don Jazzy the best….it's their life

  29. Both of them will win…y'all shud stop this shit about who will loose or win.

    Don Jazzy pairing with Kelly Hansome is going to be a hit.

  30. Ohh,one last thing,dbanj is so gonna mak it.do u honestly think he will leave donJazzy witout seeing a 'better option' for himself???

  31. Oh my God! Don't they have editors at Y magazine or whatever you call yourself. Poorly written article. I'm seriously in shock.

  32. Well said. I remember clearly the day I had the opportunity to meet with Donjazzy. I laughed my ass out all through. I had fun and didn't even want it to end. I don't wanna go into details to say what Donjazzy did that day but pls pls, don't post half-truths or outright lies about someone. It hurts okay?

  33. But seriously o,I didn't pick out any tangible point here.I'm being neutral here. #noOffence.d oda writer hd a lot of points.u countered dem witout actually "saying" anything.and don jazzy is BORING!don't get me wrong,don jazzy will not be a 'general' loser,but he will most likely be THE loser in d dbanj-dj break up. Nice article tho.I just love ynaija *mwah*

  34. Don jazzy is a producer. I can named 100 producers for u dat r still livin n makin it after a publicised brkup. Nd I can name u 100 musicians dat arn't. Dr dre wt NWA, Dj premier wt Guru, swizz beats wt ruff ryders, n so on. Nuff said. Dbanj myt b gud and kanye myt hv his back bt unless he is goin 2 change his style of music I don't see how kanye can produce an african vibe into his music. Bt hey. Wish both of dem ol d best

  35. Honestly D'banj shld gt ova himself. He shld nt 4gt where he came frm. Besides if they're goin there seperate ways they shld do so amicably nt by bashin each other.

  36. What about Duncan Mighty as the other half, a deal was cancelled, could be called back.

  37. Nice article there. I am even wishing 9ice and Don Jazzy could do something together. One of Nigeria's best lyricist with Africa' best Producer. Would be a smash it. What do you think?

  38. Na wa. I have a feeling both will lose.. And I pray not

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