The mansion, the pool, the Bentley, the life-size portrait and the gold medallions are the spoils of a revolution in Nigeria and music superstar D'banj is enjoying them.
The 35-year-old used to have to bargain with street-market traders to sell his CDs because there were no formal distribution outlets. Today, MTN Group Ltd., Africa's biggest mobile-phone operator, and Emirates Telecommunications Corp. sell songs by D'banj and other stars like Davido and 2Face as ringtones and downloads. Now Tidal music streaming service, owned by U.S. rapper Jay-Z, is interested in the Nigerian market.
"Our consumers can't get enough of it; you only need to give them a way to get the music," D'banj, whose real name is Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, says at his home in the up-market Lekki neighborhood of Lagos, dressed in a shiny fuchsia shirt. "The telecommunications companies are bridging the gap and they're raking in billions and billions of naira every year, just from content."