Why I Parted With Don Jazzy - D'banj Opens Up

After all these years, D'banj finally opened up on his separation from Don Jazzy.

Entertainer and business man, D'banj was a guest at the latest episode of "The Truth" and he opened up on everything ranging from how he lost his brother, his journey into music, how he met Don Jazzy, amongst other things.

On what made him quit Mo'Hits....

What made me? (shocked expression) You guys have not spoken to Jazzy? Jazzy. Tell them the truth mehn.. Come and tell them these people the truth.. What broke Mo’Hits.. Hmmn Difference of opinion.. First of all it wasn’t me. We had travelled and left Don Jazzy in New York with some of the management team because he had a production deal. We were trying to go global.. I would love if you had the Truth from Jazzy too, it would have been better I met Kanye West, but you all know I am a businessman. But there were two different deals. One he saw I was an artiste and he wanted to sign that artiste. Then this artist said “I have a producer. We have the best thing coming from Africa… And he was sold. And then we flew to New York.

His deal with Kanye West...

 I got an artiste deal. I got a standard artiste deal because Kanye wanted to sign me as an artiste. Then I said nooo.. I’m a businessman. I have a record label can do partnership. It was a partnership between Mo’Hits Record, Good Music and Def Jam records. It wasn’t going to be D’banj and Don Jazzy. I was just the first part of the deal. There was also a production deal because Kanye loved Jazzy’s sound.

Don Jazzy pulled out: On why Jazzy pulled out – He saw the big picture but some people are real. You can force a horse to a river, but you can’t force it to drink water.

What really caused the split?

Eh first person if I will be truthful will be Dr Sid (laughs). We came back from New York and had a meeting with Don Jazzy and Jazzy expressed his discomfort like listen, this place is too expensive, we are spending money. Going to stay there, things dey happen for Nigeria, we are already bosses here… We don’t need all this.. I’m like we are almost there. It is expensive but we can’t guarantee because its a doggy world out there.  I said to him, listen brother, this is not uncertainty. For Kanye West to see us, na God.. and he said he didn’t want 

us to do it again ..He wasn’t interested… But I told him because I had sensed it before the last concert we had. I told the lawyers in New York. They were trying to get him to come around but he didn’t. So we had that meeting and he said he didn’t want me as a partner again. That there was a lot ..I told him to give me 6 months..to convince him again..maybe to sell my share to someone else, take the money to go and try again ..I saw it wasn’t working and he formed a synergywith SID. It was clear. He wasn’t comfortable around me…My mistake was, I wasn’t sensitive enough to have noticed… So December 2011, during a general meeting after 6 months, he said he had thought about it and wasn’t interested…Infact, not just him..That this one is not interested, this one is not interested (Mo’Hits members)..I said ah! I was heartbroken. K-Switch is my brother..But the truth? K-Switch was with them…my People were not comfortable with me again…Now I look at it, maybe I did change…We all changed ..It wasn’t money…It was because we ran Mo’Hits Record like a family. That’s why we failed….