D’Banj Celebrates CREAM Platform’s First Anniversary

MICHAEL AKINOLA

Superstar singer, D’Banj, was a picture of profound joy on Wednesday at the one year anniversary event of his innovative digital talent hunt platform, Creative. Reality. Entertainment. Arts. Music, CREAM, held at the event held at Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja GRA, Lagos,

Speaking at the event, visibly elated music star said he conceived the CREAM idea because he was inundated with request by many talents who aspire to make it big in the industry.

According to the Kokomaster, “It was also at a time that I wanted to reach out to those talents in Ogbomoso, Langtang and everywhere else who could not come to Lagos to achieve their dreams but have the talent and passion to do music.”

He added, “I wanted a platform that can help find creative talent from anywhere in Africa and give them a fair chance of making their creative dreams come true, from the comfort of their homes.”

CREAM started with a mission to offer a veritable platform for uncut musical talents across the country to have their songs recorded and released, shoot musical videos for deserving up and comers and help unknowns secure collaboration with established acts.

At the outset in September 2016, there were only a few hundreds of tentative subscribers on the platform.

By July 2017, D’banj sensationally revealed that the CREAM had grown into a staggering 2 million subscriber base platform and is now worth an estimated $100million.

While the first set of beneficiaries on the platform were Rayce, TK Swag, MKJ, Leke Benson and Legend Courage, the lives of many other subscribers have altered dramatically with cash prizes ranging from N50,000 to N1 million during the monthly draws.

D’Banj also used the occasion of the anniversary to dispel insinuations that CREAM is a scam.

“I have a great team of judges and A n R which includes Godwin Tom and Harrysongs, Ice Prince, Wande Coal, to help mentor the artistes we are bringing on board. So, it’s not a lottery platform, the lottery part of it is just an added incentive. The winners are usually chosen by judges so even if I help the artistes shoot a video, they still need to make money, look good and move around, and for those who have already received their money, they know it is not a scam.”

Speaking on the challenge of the initiative, the singer said the widespread distrust in the country makes some winners doubt even their own winnings.

“Some people have been registering on the CREAM platform and winning prizes ranging from a million naira to N50,000, but I noticed that whenever we call the artistes to inform them of winning huge amounts of money, they become scared and don’t bother coming to claim their prizes. It is understandable because of the present situation of the country. They think it is a scam, they think it’s unreal, but I am here to tell you that it is not a scam, I have invited them here for you to see.”