D’banj‘s quest for dominance in
the Nigerian music scene won’t
stop now; he might have lost out
on signing Olamide and Davido –
but he has nicked another
artiste, this time a familiar
friend-foe.
The self-proclaimed ‘African
Michael Jacskon‘, we’ve learnt has
signed his friend-turned-foe-
turned-friend Oluwadamilare
Okulaja better known to the
public as Durella.
The move might however not come
as a surprise to everyone,
considering that Banger Lee
(that’s D’banj’s new nickname by
the way) and the ‘King of the
Zanga’ Durella recently settled
their differences. Some weeks
back, D’banj and his DB Records
crew released a single ‘Ibadi e‘ off
their compilation album ( D’ King’s
Men) which featured a verse from
Durella.
Fans were very excited to see the
pair had reunited after a very long
and well publicized fall out
between the pop acts.
FLASHBACK
The beef between Durella and
D’banj started in late 2006 when
the latter accused Banger Lee of
jacking his style of singing.
Apparently when D’banj and Don
Jazzy returned to Nigeria in
2004, they met up with Durella
and soon became friends. Sources
tell us that D’banj and Durella
were quite close and were spotted
together in the studio several
times.
‘I remember when Durella
followed D’banj, Don Jazzy to
Jahborne’s music factory studio
when D’banj wanted to record
‘Tongolo’ remix’, a source recounts.
Of course D’banj had blown up and
had released his second album
‘Rundown’ in 2007 when Durella
signed with TC Records and finally
launched his career. It didn’t take
long for Durella to blow up too
with hits like ‘In da Zanga’,
‘Wiskolowiska’ and ‘Shayo’ gaining
massive appeal. He also won the
MTV and Zain ‘Advance Warning’
reality show in 2008.
Then came the interviews; Durella
clearly stated that D’banj had
stolen his style. The media of
course jumped on it, comparing
both artistes. Truthfully, they did
sound very similar. And it seemed
like D’banj was aware as he
switched up the flow on the 2008
Nigerian Pop classic album ‘ The
Entertainer’. Their fight sort of
fizzled out though as Durella later
backed off. ‘D’banj is my man,
aaah, I like his mo gbono feli feli
jam’, Durella told Onome ‘ BigTyme’
Oyaide in an interview on urban
radio station Rhythm FM 93.7 in
late 2008.
BACK TO THE MATTER
We are told that D’banj and DB
Records bought out Durella’s
contract from his present record
label IKONIC Music where the
Pop act’s career has been in limbo
since he signed in mid-2011 after
ending his three-year contract
with TC Records. His upcoming
album ‘ Back/Better/Bada’ has
been pushed back one too many
times
‘Durella has signed with D’banj, he
(D’banj) bought out the contract,
that’s what I can tell you’, a
source in Durella’s camp tells us.
A rep for D’banj refused to
respond to enquiries after asking
us to send text messages to her
mobile phone.

http://www.informationng.com/2013/05/koko-master-signs-durella-to-db-records.html