NET SPECIAL FEATURE: Dagrin – three years after

By Osagie Alonge

Today, Monday April 22, 2013 marks three whole years since one of the most remarkable Hip-Hop artistes in the history of Nigerian music – Olaitan Oladapo Olaonipekun better known by his moniker Dagrin passed away, we still miss him.

FLASHBACK – HIS DEATH

Dagrin died at 6:00PM on Thursday, April 22 – exactly eight days after he was involved in a ghastly accident in front of Alakara Police station, off Agege motor road, Mushin, Lagos. He survived a serious head injury, as a result of the crash.

He was initially admitted at Tai Solarin Hospital, Mushin before he was transferred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi Araba where Doctors made serious efforts to save his life. He was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit and operated upon, and later moved to the private wing of the hospital.

Eight days of nationwide panic, the media didn’t have to play anything up; the pictures from the accident (exclusively obtained by NET) were enough to send shivers down our spine, the photos from the hospital – a lifeless looking Dagrin, a sharp contrast from the animated artiste stamped sadness on many faces. This was way worse than when pop singer 2face was robbed and shot in October 2007.

FLASHBACK – THE COME UP YEARS

Close friends to Dagrin say he started rapping about the age of 14. That was 1998 when Hip-Hop artistes were considered has half-crazed youths overdosed off the Western Culture.

‘I first met him in 1999, at a show Dr G put together at Alagbado (Lagos) for Dr Fresh, Modenine, Seemo, and we others’, long-time Hip-Hop artiste and music producer Edward ‘Tycoon’ Awani tells NET. ‘Dagrin would be at every Hip-Hop show in Lagos, trying to get a three-minute spot on stage’.

Dagrin struggled for years, hopping from one studio to the other, in a quest to record a music album. It took a few years for the struggling act that had been desperately looking for financial support to seal a record deal. In 2006, he released his debut ‘Still on the Matter’ under LEO Entertainment which was mildly received. Dagrin had now gained buzz with his single ‘Rap rules anthem’. Weeks after, he terminated his contract with the Lagos-based label.

FLASHBACK – THE C.E.O

Dagrin met up with Ola Badmus at Dr Frabz studio. Badmus, a popular artiste manager was then working with Chuddy K, Lala under Satty Records. Badmus signed a management deal with Dagrin and thus started the process of recording his second album ‘C.E.O’. Badmus and Dagrin later left Satty, setting up Misofunyin Entertainment. It was early 2009 now, the rapper’s buzz was on a high; cameo appearances and a hit single, the street ode, ‘Pon pon pon’, Dagrin released his second album C.E.O (Chief Executive Omota) at the right time.

With the public clamouring for a ‘Pon pon pon’ video, Badmus says Dagrin was pressured to signing a deal with Edlyne Records who agreed to pay for the video if Dagrin signed to the label. Edlyne had just signed pop singer –producer DJ Zeez and pop singer TIllaman.

‘It was a risk we were willing to take, we needed to shoot that video. It was a condition show promoters in and out of the country were giving us’, Ola Badmus who now runs Kosofo Entertainment says.

Dagrin signed the deal with Edlyne Records with Tunde Peters and Ola Badmus acting as his label’s manager up until his death. Dagrin contracted movie maker GINI to shoot ‘Pon pon pon’. When the video dropped, Dagrin’s career soared! Badmus however reveals that Dagrin terminated his contract with Edlyne, a week before his death.

FLASHBACK – HIS FATHER

Several sources say Dagrin had a strained relationship with his father, Comrade Olaniyi Abolaji Olanipekun.

‘Dagrin left the family house at (at Meiran, Lagos) when he was just 14’, a close friend tells NET. A polygamist, Olanipekun’s business is into renting musical equipment for local parties and gigs. Dagrin was however very close with his mother Mrs Olanipekun.

FLASHBACK – HIS GIRLFRIEND

Before his death, Dagrin had also broken ties with his girlfriend Chichi. The couple had dated for seven years but Chichi kept pressuring for more than a mere commitment, friends of the couple say. ‘Dagrin at that time wasn’t ready for marriage so he let her go’, a close friend of told us over the weekend.

FLASHBACK – HOW HE DIED

Ola Badmus narrates his last encounter with Dagrin. Badmus says the rapper was to make an appearance in a video shoot in Surulere for N50,000. Dagrin also wanted to visit his father to drop a generator set he had just acquired for him.

‘I wanted to go with Dagrin to Surulere, then we’d drive over to his father’s place but Tunde (Peters), Dagrin and I decided they (Dagrin and Tunde) both go to his father’s place since the man hates me’, Badmus recounts.

On April 13, Dagrin left his home in Sunshine Estate (Badmus says Peters’ had to attend to a family emergency and somehow went alone to Surulere) for the shoot. That was the last time Badmus says he saw him.

On April 14, 2010, The late rapper’s car, a Nissan Maxima 2008 model ran into a parked lorry in front of Alakara Police station, Mushin. Doctors at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital LUTH said he survived nine attacks before he finally gave up during the 10th attack. Meanwhile, family members, music colleagues and fans had gathered outside LUTH, praying and hoping the young rapper would survive.

Dagrin died at 6PM, April 22. When NET broke the news of his death, it only took minutes before our website crashed due to overwhelming traffic. The nation was thrown into mourning; those who didn’t know the rapper Dagrin were forced to.

FLASHBACK- HIS BURIAL

A candlelight procession (anchored by Julius Agwu and Omo Baba) was held in honour the late rapper; it started from his former home at Emmanuel Dada Street, off Bello road, Surulere to Ojez, National stadium, Surulere at about 6pm on Thursday April 29, 2010. His father’s speech at the candle light ceremony was the rap verse he did on a YQ song titled ‘Efimile’. The procession was attended by thousands including many musicians, record label execs, managers, publicists and of course the public.

At 9AM on April 30, 2010, his body was taken into the Ebony Millennium private Vault, Atan cemetery in a brown and gold coloured casket for burial.  His remains were brought in in a black Ebony Escalade Cadillac ESV 2007 model.

A burial which was originally designed to have only 150 people in attendance, ended up with thousands who had stormed the cemetery to pay last respects. Dagrin was buried eight days after he died.

LIFE AFTER DEATH

Frankly, in death, Dagrin was bigger than anyone could have imagined. Think of all that media attention when he was involved in the car crash, think of all the websites and blogs reporting the news, his music getting massive rotation on radio, his albums hitting the streets. International media even reported his tragic passing. Sadly, all this was what the rapper struggled to have when he was alive.

What has made Dagrin iconic is his somewhat prediction of his passing away. Several hours after his family announced his death, a new Dagrin song titled ‘If I die’ leaked. The song which was produced by Frenzy carried a solemn tune where Dagrin asked his fans not to cry for him if he were to die. Conspiracy theorists say the rapper knew his time was up hence recording that song.

THREE YEARS LATER

Three years after, things seem to have changed, Dagrin’s death suddenly inspired a whole lot of rappers to hit the studio spitting in Yoruba language. Dagrin didn’t pioneer Yourba-rap, (props to UK based act AY and former Coded Tunes rapper Lord of Ajasa) but he made it popular. So there you had the likes of Olamide, BaseOne, Tipsy, Jyhbo, Seriki spring up, obviously inspired by the general himself Barack O’grin.

Of all the Yoruba-lingo rappers, Olamide seems to be the person with the most acclaimed success as at now; after debuting with the hit single ‘Eni duro’ in late 2010 and releasing his first album ‘Rapsodi’ in 2011, he set up his own label YBNL and upped his game, releasing a successful  follow up album ‘YBNL’. A deal with telecoms company Etisalat, sources say earned Olamide N1m. His performance fee now falls between N700k -N900k.

THE LEGACY LEFT…

Ghetto Dreamz – A year after his death, entertainment lawyer and Stingomaina record label boss Ope Banwo produced the first ever Dagrin biography titled ‘Ghetto Dreamz’. The movie premiered on April 22, 2011. Dagrin’s former manager Ola Badmus says he was never contacted before, during and after the movie was produced. Also close friend and producer Sossick says he was never consulted for any stories but offered N50,000 to appear in the movie which he turned down.

THE POSTHUMOUS ALBUMS

Sossick who had produced 75 per cent of Dagrin’s C.E.O album says they were to commence recording of a new album titled ‘The Reproach’ just before ’Grin passed away. ‘That was actually supposed to be the title of his next album that we were supposed to work on. We didn’t really get to work on the album. So I don’t know what they wanted to drop. That’s their own thing. It was like a record label, it was like a management company’, Sossick reveals, making reference to Edlyne Records.

In mid-2012, Digital media company Spinlet announced they would be releasing Dagrin’s first posthumous album ‘Invincible Bulletproof’. Almost a year later, there seems to be no sign of its release, only a watered-downed remix to ‘If I die’ featuring international act Styles P and Nigerian rap duo Show Dem Camp.

THE DAGRIN DOCUMENTARY

In April 2012, Video director GINI released a documentary ‘Remembering Dagrin’, to mark the second anniversary of the rapper’s death. The one-hour plus clip featured never-before-seen clips and images of Dagrin. It also contained interviews with individuals that crossed the path of the young man and contributed to his rise to fame in the Nigerian music industry.

The one who received all the attention isn’t here to see it… Dagrin toiled and toiled, touched the tip of success and was going for the gusto only to lose it all in the most shocking of ways…RIP Akogun.