Nigerian musician based in Sweden, Dr. Alban, speaks with CHUX OHAI about his music and life in Europe
Nigerian-born Swedish musician and producer, Dr. Alban (real name Alban Nwapa) used to have a huge presence on the Nigerian music scene. For some years, the star artiste’s wave-making albums entitled It’s my life and Hello Africa kept his numerous fans busy in night clubs across the country.
Adored by many music lovers who, obviously, had felt powerfully drawn to his unique brand of reggae music – an exotic blend of upbeat Euro pop and roots rock reggae – Alban was an icon of sorts and remained that way for a while until he literally vanished from the music scene for about seven years.
But the break, too long for an African recording artists, was for a purpose. He had used that period to achieve one of his biggest goals: to penetrate the markets in all the countries that he had toured. And his efforts, no doubt, have yielded some positive results.
“Ordinarily, about 90 per cent of Russians will not speak a word in English language. They are more than 200 million people in that country. It’s a big country, even bigger than Nigeria. So, breaking into the huge market there through collaboration with local Russian artistes is a big deal for me. Right now, Russia and Germany are my biggest markets in Europe. With the top European songs I have, my music has been able to penetrate those markets,” he says.
Dr. Alban’s music is not only popular in Europe; it is equally well received in Egypt and Lebanon where he currently enjoys a cult following after a groundbreaking collabo with Melissa. Yet, in spite of his huge success in those foreign countries, he has curiously shied away from collaborating with younger Nigerian artistes.
“I don’t go looking for people to collaborate with. It should be the other way round. Even the artistes I did collabos with in the European countries I have mentioned contacted me themselves. Do you know what it means to look for somebody to collaborate with in Nigeria?
“I did one with the Danfo Drivers some years ago. But where is the result? Instead of moving forward, they were busy fighting each other. They haven’t been able to release the song because of this. Anytime I listen to that track, I wonder what went wrong. Even Charly Boy told me he saw those boys and asked them why they did not release the track. They said I was the one that was delaying it.
“I stopped working with them because their manager threatened to institute a court action against me. He said we could not release the song because he was their manager. I had to back out because I didn’t want any trouble,” he says.
Noting that it is easier to work with foreign artistes than with Nigerian artistes, the star artiste puts the problem down to the attitude of most so-called big Nigerian artistes. But he acknowledges the rapid growth of the music industry.
“The Nigerian music scene is getting bigger every year. It was not like this when I left the country 30 years ago. And each time I come home, I see that new musicians have arrived on the scene. What these young guys are doing is good,” he says.
Since it is on record that Dr. Alban’s albums have sold a total of 16 million copies worldwide, it may not be out of place to assume that he is a wealthy musician, by Nigerian standards at least. But he insists that he is only “comfortable” and not rich.
Interestingly the music star claims that none of his bestselling records were ever released in Nigeria and all his hit songs that have been popular here were either “bootlegged” or brought in through records pirates.
“I have never authorised any records company in Nigeria to release my albums in the country nor have I physically and officially released them here. I didn’t bother to do this because I knew I would not make any money from it,” he says.
Although living in Europe as a celebrity has been quite exciting for the Swedish-Nigerian singer, he has had his fair share of challenges, too. At different times in the past, he had had to cope with various shades of racist behaviour while performing live on stage.
Recalling one of such incidents, he says, “There was a time when fans threw bottles at me during a performance. I couldn’t understand why they had to do this. I was confused because I didn’t know if it was done for any reason other than racism.”
However, one of the things Alban has learnt to avoid in a foreign land is getting lured into ‘temptation’ by his doting white female fans. “As an artiste living in Europe, womanising could do a lot of damage to my career. So I try as much as possible to avoid it. Besides, I am happily married with two children,” he says.