D’Banj: I founded Mo’Hits Records, not Don Jazzy

Nigerian music star, D’Banj has declared that he founded Mo’Hits Records cementing him as the owner of the label which is currently at the centre of an ownership tussle between himself and Don Jazzy.

News from the wires hinted of a breakup between D’Banj and Don Jazzy who have worked together for about two years. That came with the claim of ownership of one of Africa’s most vibrant record labels – Mo’Hits Records, between the two.

Michael Collins Ajereh, otherwise known as Don Jazzy, after he was excluded from the video of D’Banj’s smash hit Oliver Twist took to social networking site Twitter, some days ago, to confirm the split disclosing that he will be donating all proceeds he made from his ‘partnership’ with D’Banj to charity.

Real named Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo, D’Banj had also told the American magazine, Ebony, that “I own Mo’Hits. I have my own label called Mo’Hits with my artistes, Dr Sid, Wande Coal, Don Jazzy, D’Prince and K-Switch, who is his younger brother.”

Currently signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music label, D’Banj told OkayAfrica TV, based in US, that he “found the opportunity to travel to England, I got exposure from there, I got experience from there and then we went back home started my own record label called Mo’Hits records because anything we do is a hit.”

According to the artiste also known as the Kokomaster, who was in that interview with label mates Dr. Sid, Wande Coal and K-Switch, “I am a positive minded person and I surround myself with positive minded people and I know that when I set myself to do something, even if I am the worse at it believe you me I will win.”

Touching on his deal with Kanye West, he observed that “there is a bridge from UK to America, Europe to America, everywhere else to America in the industry (music) but in Africa that is cut somewhere, we don’t know where the bridge is. There is nobody like that from Africa; there is no bridge … but then Kanye West saw [the bridge] and said lets go.”

D’Banj disclosed that his relationship with Kanye West started in Dubai. He said “I had a concert in Dubai and I was there for like three, four days, and he listened to all my songs and he invited me down to New York. So January 2011 I flew to New York and I met Kanye West and the rest is history.”

To him, his “vision was to carry my gospel - my music gospel - my culture from Africa and take it abroad, and take it to the rest of the world,” something he is on the verge of achieving.