At New Afrika Shrine, D’banj’s Onstage Brilliance Burns Unabated 

Iyke Bede

At this year’s Omniverse Africa Summit, Nigerian singer Oladapo Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, disclosed that during one of his first public performances, a heckler in the crowd jeered, “We don’t know you,” in a discouraging attempt to elicit laughter from the audience.

Twenty years into his career, D’banj is recognised as one of the most celebrated artists and great performers to emerge from the Nigerian music industry. These accolades are not merely to inflate his ego; he has earned them through a long list of awards, numerous radio hits, and multiple sold-out performances.

Commemorating this milestone, the Koko Master hosted a free-admission concert at the New Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, drawing inspiration from the afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. The venue provided an ideal rendezvous for his loyal fans, offering unrestricted enjoyment in an open-air setting that embraces diverse personalities and individuals from all walks of life.

Scheduled to run from 7 pm to 12 am, the stage was made ready for a slew of performances that showcased the vibrant offerings from other creatives: dance, singing, and instrumental performances. These opening acts set the tone for the night, but that was before songwriter and singer Peruzzi took to the stage to perform some of his popular songs including ‘Southy Love,’ ‘Somebody Baby,’ and ‘Amaka.’

At around 11:20 pm, one might have expected the crowd’s energy to wane, instead, instead they erupted in a thunderous welcome as D’banj emerged in a striped green co-ord, heralded by his hype man, Jimmie. Flashing lights, confetti, pyrotechnics, and a troupe of female dancers flanked him. He stood at a spot to first soak in their adoration before proceeding to assume the ‘Koko’ pose.

Kicking off on a high note, D’banj launched his set with a medley of ‘Mo Gbono Feli Feli,’ ‘Tongolo,’ and his recently released ‘Koko,’ reinforcing both the crowd and his backup dancers as they transitioned to ‘Why Me,’ one of the biggest singles of 2006.

From time to time, he would pause the performance to speak to the crowd. One such moment was when he implored them to enter the spiritual realm through his song ‘Olorun Maje,’ which translates to ‘God forbid.’

A remarkable and unlikely moment happened during the performance of the smash hit ‘Fall in Love.’ He had started the musical number just like the other ones that preceded it. The crowd? Frenzied as usual. But just as the song was about to transition into another, Made, grandson of the late Kuti, emerged with saxophone in hand, ready to perform. Made, with great precision, executed the sax solo portion of the song to the delight of screaming fans.

Although no former member of Mo’ Hits resurfaced to perform alongside him, D’banj tactfully revived songs he had collaborated on with them. His approach breathed new life into each performance. Particularly notable was his rendition of ‘Give It to Me,’ a song which D’Prince featured him, exuding bold eroticism.

The final moments of the concert crescendoed perfectly. D’banj had all the female dancers form a train reminiscent of Fela’s dancers, with D’banj at one end conducting their well-choreographed moves to the monster hits ‘Mr Endowed’ and ‘Oliver Twist.’ At this point, members of the crowd moved towards the elevated stage to give their best dance renditions to the songs, too. This transitioned seamlessly into ‘Igwe,’ which had the crowd in a call-and-response mode until their lungs gave out.