It’s been over 10 years since D’banj burst on the scene with ‘Tongolo’. Needless to say, nothing was the same.
The Nigerian music star has deservedly become an icon of sorts. So it’s not surprising that his music has travelled far and wide.
What is surprising is that for all the love Nigerians have for Bollywood, we didn’t notice the generous sampling of ‘Tongolo’ in the 2007 Indian movie ‘Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag’. (Well in fairness, the film was a remake of an older Indian movie we all know very well- Amitabh Bachachan’s 1975 classic, Sholay).
Of course, the song Mehbooba Mehbooba was sung in the Hindi language, the strains are too familiar to our Nigerians ears not to notice.
Just listen to the chorus and swear if you cannot almost hear Don Jazzy‘s idiosyncratic drawl saying ‘D’banj tell them the koko, I say make you yarn them the koko…’
For many of us who grew up listening to Nigerian covers of Indian songs (ask Salawa Abeni and Maintain), this feels good that, for once, Indians are sampling us.
Oya, Tongolo!