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Dagizah: Striking For The Top With Music

By Michael Bamidele
25 July 2021   |   12:33 pm
Abubakar Abdullahi is a fast-rising artiste who goes by the stage name, Dagizah. The last born of 6 children, Dagizah was born and raised in Abeokuta, Ogun state. Speaking with The Guardian Life, Dagizah talks about how he transitioned from playing football to being signed by Grammy-nominated singer, and music executive Bankulli. How did you…

Dagizah: Striking For The Top With Music

Abubakar Abdullahi is a fast-rising artiste who goes by the stage name, Dagizah. The last born of 6 children, Dagizah was born and raised in Abeokuta, Ogun state.

Speaking with The Guardian Life, Dagizah talks about how he transitioned from playing football to being signed by Grammy-nominated singer, and music executive Bankulli.

How did you get the stage name Dagizah?
The thing is before I went by the name Dagizah I used to be called Bupato. I came about Dagizah in a funny way when I was trying to create an email years ago and that was what came to my mind first. Ever since then, I have been going by the name.

We understand you were entirely into football before you ventured into music, how did that happen?
From a very young age, I have always had a passion for football and played for my school team. And I used to train with one “Samba F.C” where we used to pay to train and because back then there was a preference for those with money to pay for the training sessions. I didn’t get enough time because I couldn’t match up with those people with money to pay.

I never even thought I was going to do music. My elder brother was a strong influence on my music career, he used to buy CDs of Usher and Saheed Osupa, I became a huge fan of them both and from there my love for music started growing which pushed me to discover my musical talent.

So I would say my lack of money to keep on training with that football club and my brother’s love for music rubbing off on me made me transition from football to music.

Tell us about your relationship with Bankulli, how did you meet him?
Bankulli is a legend as we all know. I never thought I was going to meet him, my label boss took me to meet Abu Abel and from there he introduced us to Bankulli. On arriving at where we were, Bankulli asked if I knew him and I responded with “Haa! Of course, Sir”. He is now someone I refer to as my “Industry daddy” (laughs).

What inspires your music?
I love listening to instrumentals basically at loud volumes precisely.

How would you describe your music?
I would like to describe my music as a fusion of the “foreign sound” and our own indigenous sound.

In an industry saturated with new artists, what do you plan on doing differently?
My sound basically. I want to show the world that a local boy can become a global star.

Tell us about your EP Zero Your Mind?
I made this project having people facing mental health challenges in mind as I myself have been in their situation.

Zero Your Mind E.P is a feel-good project to make people happy and serve as a “happy pill” so to speak.

What are some of the setbacks you have experienced as a musician?
Like many musicians, I don’t usually feel happy when my music doesn’t go as far as I and my team had envisioned it to be.

If you were to change one thing about the music industry in Nigeria, what would it be?
Money shouldn’t be the primary reason for us artists doing music, it should be about passing the right message to our fans. The love of the craft and passion should drive us all. So if I’m to change something it will be the mentality most artists have about their reason for making music.

Which artists would you like to collaborate with?
Davido! I look up to him because he is hardworking and has a great voice. I want to get to the level he has gotten to. He drives me to be better all around.

What has been a defining moment for you in your music career?
When I got signed to my record label, Chippy Records.

Apart from music, are there other things you are involved in?
Nothing really focused on only my music for now.

What should fans be expecting from you in the near future?
To continue using my music to pass the right message.

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