‘I’m happy I met my wife before fame came’
Dayo Adeneye, popularly known as D-1, alongside his partner, Kenny Ogungbe, literally raised the Nigerian entertainment scene from the dead, and changed the face of the industry in Nigeria. They have indeed shown that show business requires managerial skills and entrepreneurial ability. Having trained in the entertainment capital of the world, Hollywood,
California, in the United States of America, they returned to Nigeria with indepth knowledge of what they wanted to achieve.
Dayo attended the Catholic Primary School in Surulere, Lagos, the Federal School of Arts and Science in Victoria Island. Thereafter, he proceeded to Southern University, Illinois in the United States. He had his first degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Mass Communication.
He worked as a manager in a multi million dollar-company for seven years, and also taught English and Mathematics in a college in the United States. They both also worked at Raypower and African Independent Television before founding Primetime Entertainment, Kennis Music and Afrisat. They are a unique duo, and have come a long way together, in an environment where partnerships hardly go the distance. Kennis Music revived the music industry and took it to a whole new level, putting Nigeria on the global music scene.
Riding the wave of the revolution started by Ray Power and AIT, the duo gave Nigerian music a new spin and threw up a new generation of stars like Tuface, Daddy Showkey, Abdulkareem Idris, to mention a few. This effectively set the stage for the explosion in the music scene and Nigeria’s dominance in Africa, creating inroads into America, UK, Europe, etc. In this chat with SOLA SANUSI, Dayo relieves memories of his humble beginning, the pact with his partner, professional sojourn, his obsession, and his father’s role in his second marriage. Enjoy it:
Will you please take us through your foray into entertainment?
It was a product of a combination of what I studied and where I lived at that particular time. I happened to have lived in Hollywood for almost 12 years and Hollywood, they say, is the entertainment capital of the world; music, and movie, everything around me is entertainment. I think that kind of sparkled my interest and awoken my senses to the possibility. I also
went to school and studied Radio and TV for my Masters degree so naturally, I was going to lean towards that side. And when an opportunity came to come to Nigeria through Dr. Raymond Dokpesi in the opening of Raypower and AIT, I grabbed it with both hands and headed for Nigeria.
Why did you tend towards radio more than TV since you studied the two?
That was what was available then, Raypower started before AIT and I have always been a shy person. I never really saw myself as been in front of the cameras, I had even thought I will be more of a producer, somebody behind the scene but somehow, I found myself in front of the camera and I seem to enjoy it and I went on from there.
How did you meet Kenny?
I met Kenny in school; we were actually in the same class. We basically had the same courses in our first degree. Kenny did Accounting and I did Business Administration, so we were just three or four courses apart. We see each other every day, so we became friends and eventually became roommates and we graduated the same day, both for our first degree and our masters. So, we developed our friendship and some chemistry from there.
For how long have you been friends now?
Over 20 years now, I think 1982/83.
Whose idea was it for you to start your own thing?
I don’t want to say it was one person’s idea or the other as we’ve always done things together. We’ve always shared ideas and asked ourselves, ‘‘do you think we can do this.’’ We’ve always bounced things off each other. Kenny was the first to come down to Nigeria when Raypower started, he wasn’t married then but I was and couldn’t come down at that time but he always called me then that you need to come down, that we need to do it together, I succumbed and later came down. So, we can’t really say it is one person’s idea because we just did what we liked doing.
How was the evolution of your programme from Primetime show?
We started with AIT Jamz and later started Primetime Entertainment and Kennis Music, simultaneously. Kennis Music handles the music part of the business while Primetime handles the show, the TV and the radio programme.
At a point in time in Nigeria, it seemed any artiste that wanted to get to the top had to come to you guys…
That will be for you to say
Does it mean you guys have the magical touch?
We still do, you point to any artiste that is out there, is it Kcee, he was signed onto us at a point, so they will tell you that most of what they are doing out there is what they learnt. He passed through us and we were instrumental in his formative years. You name it, Weird MC; we’ve all interacted at one point or the other but for me to say this was the hottest person that
will be poking somebody else in the eye. They were all very relevant to our business, they were all important to us, to what we do and we are very happy to have been part of the process. At least, we have played our own small part in the nation building, stimulating the economy. You see, for every Idris, Tony Tetuila, Eddy Montana, Tuface, D’banj that you have seen, they not only pay taxes, they employ people. They employ band managers, dancers, band members and what have you.
You are regarded as having brought in a sort of revolution into Nigeria’s entertainment industry…
If you call it that, it gives us a sense of pride, looking back to see what the industry has become. Having been able to play a small part in that, one can’t help but smile. So we thank God for being able to play our own part.
Can you describe how you met the entertainment industry when you came back?
I think at that time, it wasn’t as if it was stagnant, though it was not at the present ‘volume and magnitude’ but of course, we had King Sunny Ade, Sir Shina Peters, Felix and Moses, the late Christy Essien Igbokwe, Stella Monye, Mike Okri and others, all doing their thing in their own way but with the advent of music video, MTV, Channel O, I think that kind of helped things explode but it was always there, only that it only needed a new platform.
Which of you specifically gave the industry the new platform it needed then?
Well, I won’t be precise but with all sense of humility, I must say that we thank God for that.
Looking back, which of the artistes were part of the revolution then?
We started with the Remedies, Idris Abdullkareem, Tony Tetuila and Eddy Montana at that time with Mi o Sakomo, and that kind of awoken Nigerians to the fact that our boys are coming out with their own thing, not just copying the foreign acts. I think we also continued the trend with Paul Play Dairo and a few others.
How was it before then?
It was the era of Michael Jackson, Tupac Shakur, the Notorious BIG and others, I am glad that we were also part of that process too. I believe everything has its season and when the change in the season came, we took it on.
How long have you been married?
Well, I’m twice married now. The first marriage didn’t work out. I’m on my second marriage which is 16 years old now.
When you celebrated your 16th year wedding anniversary, many couldn’t believe you’ve been together with your wife for that long?
Well, what do you want me to say? I don’t argue with people. She knows for how long I have been married to her. This could be because they are just seeing her in the papers.
Entertainment comes with a lot of challenges, what were yours at the beginning?
A great deal of it is financial, we all have ideas, aspirations, goals and things we want to achieve but ambition without knowledge and capital is like a boat in the desert, it’s not going anywhere. You could have the biggest dream but if you don’t have that one person or capital that you need to go straight into your dreams, you might just be dreaming. Well, we are meant to have challenges in life and we are meant to overcome them. When we created Primetime, we were virtually penniless. We started Primetime in Kennis’ parlour and like my father
says, when you get to the bottom of a mountain, you don’t just sit there and start crying, rather, you must start climbing. We did what we could and built on it. Same thing with Kennis Music, we started it in his living room, we didn’t wait to get an office in Victoria Island. We started the journey of a thousand miles with that humble step, a baby step.
How has being an entertainer affected your marriage, especially with the ladies?
Well, I don’t think it has anything to do with my marriage. I do what I do; I separate my job from my home. D-1 is different from Dayo Adeneye. When I get home, I’m Dayo Adeneye, a father and a husband. I don’t mix the two. I don’t get home and say ‘I’m D-1’. My kids just know that I’m D-1, they don’t take it too much to them. And let me say that I’m happy that I met my wife before the D-1 fame, so, we are cool with that.
You are reputed with a good fashion sense, how come?
Thank you for that, it’s because I like good things, the average Nigerian likes good things, good cars, good clothes, good food, as long as they can afford it, so I’m not an exemption.
What dictates your fashion sense?
It depends on where I’m going, if I’m going to the office or event and the kind of event it is. Is it a casual, tuxedo you name it but the most important thing is that I must be comfortable. I’m not going to wear a suit and tie under a hot weather because I want to meet up with an event.
What is the most expensive fashion accessory in your wardrobe?
(Laughter) I don’t know, probably one of my wristwatches. It’s a Rolex and everybody who has a Rolex knows how valuable it is.
What fashion item are you obsessed with?
Shoes, I love shoes, I love Prada and Louis Vuiton shoes. I used to collect wristwatches when I was younger, maybe in the university but now, its shoes.
You rarely wear native attires
That is on the contrary, I do a lot of natives. I wear a lot of it.
But you are mostly seen in shirts and jeans
That’s probably on my business and depending on the event, but like I said, if I’m going for Hip-hop awards, you will not see me in buba and sokoto but if I’m going to a wedding ceremony, I will not wear a Tee-shirt. I will wear native attire.
How have you been able to maintain your physique? It seems you’ve been like this forever?
I watch what I eat, I don’t eat too much meat and I exercise daily, I try to do that four or five times a week. I walk a lot. I don’t exercise to look fit but to be healthy. It’s for my health and that is something that is important. Don’t do it to look good because that will fail you. If you do it for your health, you will look young, you will be vibrant and full of energy to do things that you want to do and not just because you want to fit into your clothes.
Aside walking, what other form of exercise do you do?
I play table tennis, squash, I lift weight and I play a lot of soccer.
You lift weight?
Yes, three times a week. Don’t you see my biceps? Most people do lift weight. Kate Henshaw does, and we talked about it. I know one or two celebrities that do work out with weight lifting.
How did you meet your wife?
My father actually introduced her to me. She always came to visit her aunt who was our next-door neighbour. My father called me and said, ‘there is this girl that always comes next door every Sunday, I think you should come over and see her’ and I said ‘come over and do what? Are you the one that will fix me up? Meanwhile, I just came out of my first marriage so, I wasn’t interested but my curiosity got a better part of me. I went there one day and I saw her, we started dating and here we are.
Are you threatened by the emerging younger generation in the entertainment industry?
They are not sitting in my office, why will I feel threatened in a country of 150 million people. You can’t cater for everybody, no matter how hard you try. There were some people doing it before we came in so, why will I be threatened by someone else. Look at where Nigeria is now, we are not there yet so, the more Kenny, the more D-1 that comes out to do this thing, the better this country will be.
Looking at the entertainment industry today, are you fulfilled?
It gives me joy, it gives me a lot of happiness and it makes me want to do more. When someone sees me on the street and tells me ‘I like what you do, I aspire to be like you’, it makes me feel like ok, I’m doing something right for someone to want to emulate me. This tells me I must not relent on my efforts. I must continue to try to work harder, keep reaching higher. It tells me not to rest on my oars.