Joey Akan from Afrobeats Intelligence in this two part interview starting today and ending tomorrow, takes you into the inner recesses of ‘Koko master’, D’Bang and brings refreshing and captivating insights into the life of one of Nigeria’s most talented musician, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur.
D’Banj and wife Lineo Didi Kilgrow
“Here!” D’banj drops two bags of his branded ‘Koko Garri’ on the table. It’s a sunny afternoon in Lagos when I return to his home in Ikoyi for our concluding conversation. The singer rushes into his living room with some souvenirs. His signature sunglasses now replaced by a clear set. As he walks in, he announces, somewhat apologetic for bringing me out again, “Today will be calmer, but I might have more meetings, so let’s start early.” The boisterous energy was still present. The jokes continue to fly. But in the absence of near-constant interruptions, he is enjoying a rare moment of calm.
We are no longer in the apartment from the previous day. “Let’s go to my private family house, where no one will disturb us,” he says. As I walk behind him, he gives me a tour, explaining the makeup of his apartments. “These two two-bedroom flats are places where I host my work people. You know the kind of work I do. If we have a writing camp, or producers come to work overnight, this is where they will sleep instead of hotels. I don’t like hotels,” he explains, pushing the elevator button.
Much to my surprise, we rise higher to another apartment. While the new space resembles the luxurious all-white decor of lower flats, a red art-deco piece positioned by the balcony adds a creative flair to the living room. We take our seats by the dining table and launch into a conversation. There is no need to warm him up because our conversation had continued long after I left the day before. He’d texted me that night to ensure I slept well. He told me he slept well too. Being a rich 40-year old pop music legend ought to afford you simple pleasures like a good night’s rest. When I arrived, someone told him that his steward, Rotimi, was ill. He quickly placed a call to check on him and tell him to take the day off. Above everything else, Dbanj doesn’t play with his relationships or his people.
Our conversations are interrupted by another call. “Dear…” D’banj takes it. His voice had assumed a lower, softer tone as he nodded in rapt attention. “Can I get the door for you? I am in the other flat…” he mutters answers to questions, phone pressed firmly against his ear. “Wifey is outside, let me go get the door.”
In 2016, Nigerians were stunned to see news reports that D’banj was now someone’s husband. The quintessential playboy and the subject of African celebrity romantic fantasies had secretly married his lover, Lineo Didi Kilgrow, or Didi, and successfully kept the public in the dark. He would issue a statement publicly the following year, telling journalists that his mother was instrumental in the hushed nature of it. Sadly, the couple would later lose their first son in June 2018 to a drowning accident. Daniel Oyebanjo III, who turned one that May, reportedly died in a swimming pool at the singer’s Lagos home. D’banj was not in the country when the incident occurred. He was attending the BET Awards in Los Angeles, and cut short his trip to be by his wife. D’banj says the experience was a reset button for his life, bringing him closer to God and his wife.
“I’ve been shouting that I was a superhero since way before I got married. When this happened to me, it was when I understood. Because when you watch any superhero movie, the superhero is untouchable. And the only way they can touch the superhero is when they go after the loved ones of the superhero,” he tells me about the experience.
Just then, Seun Kuti walks in, sporting a brown T-shirt, and African wax print trousers. We are introduced briefly. It is his first visit to the apartment, and D’banj is in jolly host mode, obliging his request for a tour. Mid-interview, D’banj’s wife Didi graciously sent us one of his favourite meals — bread and stew, with an assortment of choice meats. I and D’banj exchange words, tearing the bread into small chunks, dipping it in stew and munching between revelations.
She later joins us at the table, with two steaming mugs of black tea, and a smile. Calm with a measured sense of wonder, she sits in listening to stories of love, and life. Didi’s launching a foundation in honour of her late child. Its primary function would be to rescue people in need of a hand in life. “The most painful part of it all was that I had no one to give all the love in my heart. All the love that was in my heart for my child. So, I thought to myself: There are children suffering in the world. It isn’t until they are my biological children that I will show them love,” she explains, her left hand moving to her chest with each pronouncement of ‘love’. She would name it “The DOTT Foundation,” inspired by the name of her dead son: ‘Daniel Oyebanjo The Third.’
They are in a better place now, D’banj tells me. On Thursday, September 19, 2019, the couple welcomed another child in the US. The new baby feels like a restoration, he explains, smiling deeply. “…we get by day by day, focusing on the positive side. And I asked for restoration. And the Bible says “He would give you everything that you lost.” And I told him (God) that ‘I know, maybe I wanted a girl next. But I still want a boy, so give me back that boy.’ And in a short time, he gave us the boy. And you see now, our boy is going to be one year old in September. So we thank the Lord Almighty,” he concludes.
We talk about his entrepreneurial journey across tech and agriculture. He’s eyeing a future as an investor. All of his artistic success, status and celebrity will be adapted for potency in his future endeavours. And above everything, he is truly happy with life.
Joey Akan is from Afrobeats intelligence
The Interview continues tomorrow
