A Critical Look @ DBanj/Tonto Dikeh's Joker Of The Year Deal!

The latest news in the entertainment industry that’s going viral at the moment is the Dbanj/Tonto Dike’s record label signing deal which has been generating a lot of controversies. Pundits have seen this move by Dbanj as a last minute survival strategy of a drowning man, in fact it is what National Enquirer will refer to as the JOKER of year 2014. We can’t wait to see the end of the movie, quote us.

In case you’re a bit behind, Dbanj has just officially unveiled his signees into his record labels, DB Records a.k.a LeeTemple and in his team are daringly notorious actress, Tonto Dike whose call name at the LeeTemple will be PokoLee, also there’s Dbanj’s younger brother, KaySwitch (KasSwitchLee), and upcoming musicians, MossKrissLee and RalphKrissLee whom we learnt are blood brothers while the egg head of the LeeTemple wants to be known as BangaLee-The White Lion (Kiniun Funfun).

There’s no doubting the fact that, Dbanj who was one time a toast of the industry is at crossroads possibly owing to his overzealousness or maybe wrong decision and some are even saying the talented lanky musician might have developed kind of complexity due to situation on ground. He’s in desperate need to fill up the gap which has been so obvious after leaving the Mohits crew.

Don’t get this wrong, Dbanj is still much around doing well but not as commensurate though, there had been arguments of his track records right from when he left his former label, Mohits till this time, take it or leave it, there hasn’t been much in terms of a major hit song or album aside the nation cup’s sound track, Top of The World and later Eja Nla which tried to lift him but didn’t go as presumed.

It is pertinent to note that when Dbanj left the Mohits crew to join Kanye’s GOOD Music, so much was expected of him, he did get his fans’ back then because they see a tag-team with Kanye as something unique, out of this world, extraordinary and a boost for the blossoming Nigeria entertainment industry; the thought was that, shortly, Dbanj will soon be hobnobbing with the likes of Puff Daddy, Jay-Z, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber and so on, on the American Red Carpet but alas, it was just a movie script which never came to pass, even the primary assignment of getting to produce him saw no light of the day aside the remix video of his last effort with Mohits, OliverTwist where Kanye did nothing but mocking him at the background, please go see it again, there was no word from him except flipping his images few times and Kanye’s last gesture at the end of the video suggested nothing but “you’re on your own”, what Nigerians will call OYO. 

And to say that DBanj didn’t even make the last seat at the Kanye West and Kim Kadashian wedding that held at the historic Chateau De Versailles in France recently is sad sad enough for someone who’s part of the Good Music management.

Worst still was the recently concluded MTV Awards which held in South Africa where DBanj did not just lose out completely (he didn’t win any award) but got no recognition at all, unlike his erstwhile team mates who coasted home few laurels and had swell time at the international show.

In a frantic move to pull media stunt, DBanj went to town to announce what can best be described as the funniest deal of 2014, he told the world he’s signing contentious actress, Tonto Dikeh whose incursion into music got a flabbergasted viewing from fans with laughable comments that eventually marred her chances. 

“Yes, Tonto’s weird idiosyncrasies will definitely drag fans for anything she ventures into but she can only fool people once before they back out, so why is DBanj making such a grave mistake, anyway he’s a sinking ship, he definitely need a help”, says a critic who spoke to National Enquirer.

Other school of thought are of the opinion that, DBanj has always been in the habit of using gullible stars to shore up himself in the media anytime it looks like the chips are falling down just like the pranks he played with Genevieve Nnaji where they both left everybody to guess and believe whatever they feel was happening between them. The truth is, Genevieve is at the receiving end because the whole world now sees her like she fell so cheap even if it were meant to be a cooked up act, the fact remains that, DBanj has made his point and got loads of media attention which was helpful in cornering some of the product endorsements then. 

Now it is the turn of Tonto Dikeh who will have nothing to lose anyway because, hers, is an already battered image that needs to be managed but how far can the deal between DBanj and Tonto who fondly refer to each other as Dad and daughter in business lasts and who do you think stands to gain from the relationship.

Jite Usman