Veteran Nigerian musician D’banj sparked conversation recently with remarks about the evolving social landscape for celebrities. In an interview with The Beat FM, Lagos, D’banj spoke about the stark difference between his generation and the current crop of musicians regarding having children outside of marriage.
D’banj, known by his stage name “The Koko Master,” highlighted how having a child out of wedlock could have severely damaged a musician’s career in his era. “Our generation was so hard,” he explained. “If you had a child out of wedlock,your career could just end.”
He contrasted this with the present day, where some celebrities are openly celebrated for having children outside of marriage. D’banj jokingly chided his colleague 2Baba, who faced past scandals regarding out-of-wedlock children.”Sometimes I call 2Face to chide him for not encouraging me back then because it is something different when you now see them celebrating with their kids. They are in their 30s and their kids are teenagers.”
However, D’banj went beyond simply comparing eras. He emphasized the importance of personal responsibility, stating,”I think it goes beyond people, it goes to your state of mind: Are you mentally and financially ready? You don’t have to have everything in the world, if you’re ready to embrace what is coming to you, I think that is the best.”