D'banj Revives Nostalgia with 'The Entertainer: D’Sequel' - A Journey Back to Nigerian Music’s Golden Era

The magic of the past as D'banj brings back the sounds of Nigerian music's golden days with a fresh twist in his latest album.

D’banj got us with this nostalgia marketing for his new album, The Entertainer: D’Sequel. It was an easy move for easy money, and being able to execute it reflects the maturity of our Nigerian music industry.

Nostalgia is compelling. It marches into your heart, deep into where you’ve stored core memories from your past. It yanks them out, instantly lighting up your mood, with fondness from “the good ol’ days.”

D’banj represents the good old days of Nigerian music. That era where things were simpler, the beat was direct, and all we needed to appraise a successful record was hearing it blaring at street corners, and at every birthday party we crashed. Today, we’re all mumbled up, with convoluted streaming platforms, music review tacticos, A&R bio merchants, weaponised digital fan culture, parasocial relationships, and the seeming democratisation of music knowledge.

We’ve come a long way from Don Jazzy’s legendary staff, the pride and sense of occasion that the defunct Mohits inspired in us, and the advancement of ‘Afrobeats to the world.’ But the music never leaves, and when a market ripens beyond ‘drop song and pray to blow,’ we find ourselves with enough capital to go back to our past joy.

Now there’s funding and the corporate will to explore memory lanes. We can take elements from our past pop music to create new wonders, or we could find new ways to import the past into the present, by reworking the music and giving it new life. 

D’banj’s new project is the good old days, made anew. And it makes me feel like a child again, but with adult skin, creaking joints, and bones. I get two kicks from “Koko remix,” one from today’s enjoyment, and a reenactment of my past pleasures from a long time ago. I also squeal from hearing Awilo Longomba, Youssou N’Dour, Wyclef Jean and more.

I’m overjoyed for D’banj getting this over the line. I’m happy that this could be funded. And happy that I can relive and romanticise the past with this project.