NIGERIA: Afropop Superstar D'banj Shares the Life-Changing Tragedy That Made Him Choose the Microphone Over the Gun

Whether you’re a Billionaire inventor the likes of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or just a bum lying on the streets, we all have that one moment in our lives that leaves deep scars that manage to shape our lives either for the better or worse.

And for the man who calls himself the African Michael Jackson, Nigerian pop star D’banj, the same also applies.

Speaking recently to CNN’s African Voices, D’banj shared the defining moment in his life. The moment that led him to choosing to pick up microphone instead of joining the military to become a soldier like his father and late brother.

D’banj biggest moment in his career is undoubtedly when he got signed to Sony Music Entertainment and when he truly went international with his jam Oliver Twist which had a cameo of Kanye West.

“You got to love the hustle, you got to love the fame, you got to love the shows. You just got to love the ups and downs.

“I grew up living in every part of Nigeria," he explains, "loving the military... I wanted to be a superhero, I'm telling you, the first black superhero.

"Now I'm still doing the same thing. Instead of carrying the gun to save the world, I carry a microphone," he said.

He went on to describe his childhood and being a military brat and how the death of his elder brother in a plane crash changed his decision to join the army as well as how his love for music came about.

“Ten years ago if you told your mom after school that you wanted to be a musician, she would probably report you to your pastor or your Imam.

"I grew up living in every part of Nigeria," he explains, "loving the military... I wanted to be a superhero, I'm telling you, the first black superhero.

"Now I'm still doing the same thing. Instead of carrying the gun to save the world, I carry a microphone."

After his brother's death, D'banj came across a harmonica in his brother’s possession, the instrument that would undoubtedly bring about his love for music.

"I picked up the harmonica and went to school with it…Everywhere I went, anything I had, I tried to play it. That's how the love of music came."

Watch the full interview; http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/11/africa/dbanj-afropop/index.html?sr=cnnitw