Guest Spotlight- DC, Nigeria's Soft Rock/Pop Genius.

Let's paint a beautiful scenario where your fiance plans to pop the question during a candle light dinner. All's set and pretty much what you'd expect a romantic dinner to feel like. Conversations go on real nice, good background music and then he goes down on one knee... (cue song- DC's "Will You Marry Me?")

...and presents this to you.

Tange-ring

That should do the trick and a very sure move that will get a "Yes" any day any time; way better than presenting this other ring...

Ladies, what say ye?

For those of you who do not yet know, the song you just listened to "Marry Me" was done by a brilliant Nigerian, DC.

The 24-year old Delta state artist whose real name is  Donald Franklin Chukwuyem Isedeh, has already garnered fame within a short period of time. His single "Marry Me" has received more airplay in a short space of time than most artists that have been in the industry much longer than he has.
The third and last of his siblings, DC describes himself as friendly and funny but insists he's the last person you'd want to go along with to have a good time in the club. This is what he had to say concerning being the last child- "Being the last born can have its disadvantages! Like if anyone comes to the house and they realize I'm the last ,it just ruins my swag, especially if it's a girl".
Let me tell you a little secret (he's related to one of the most popular Nigerian on-air personalities. I'm talking about the beautiful and crazy Omalicha of Rhythm 93.7FM in Lagos).

Omalicha

He refers to his mum as his hero. Growing up as a child, his mother spared nothing to ensure he had the best, even during tough times she never failed to do her best to provide.
DC refers to his style of music as soft rock/pop. He goes on to say that often times his music has been mistaken for R'n'B.

When did he start singing?

DC:
"I can't say. I know I've loved music for as long as I can remember but I also loved learning about nature,animals and we humans. So somewhere along the line I thought I belonged to the science world and music wasn't just what I took seriously. I started singing to myself since I was little, still remember when my mum bought me my first radio which had a cassette player/recorder, that was to me then by far better than any game console. I would steal her gospel cassettes and record songs I heard on radio and she knew but wouldn't say anything, in my mind I thought I was Aladdin. But I started singing for people to hear me in secondary school. I sang Linkin Park's "Encore" in my secondary school and all the girls screamed, they couldn't believe it was me. I couldn't even believe it was me either."

He started considering singing as a career in his 100 level in the university. He couldn't read without a song playing in his ear. This became a struggle for him in school because he knew he had no passion for what he was studying. He even asked his mum if he could be transferred to a music school in the UK or US. Of course as most typical Nigerian mothers would react, his mum wasn't in support of him taking up music as a career, she wanted him to be a doctor but when she later she saw his passion, she started supporting him but his dad would not hear of it.
One very common response you'd get from most artists when asked when they started singing for people is that they were part of a church choir growing up. DC did not sing in a choir and has never been a part of a music group, however he sang in his secondary school's fellowship.
He's currently in his third year as a Microbiology student of University of Benin and he plans on taking music full-time after he graduates. He says he's very focused on finishing from school and as such will not be distracted by his sudden and rapid rise to popularity. Whenever school's not in session, DC can be found in the studio working on a new song.
Asa remains his main inspiration and this is what he said about her:

DC:
"Asa inspires me a lot. I mean her music is awesome. She made me believe I can be myself and still be popular. She brought in jazz at a time when no one ever thought it would be received by Nigerians. That's something."

Asa

DC has 6 songs so far but won't be pushing all at once. They are - Marry me, I'm sorry, Mother's hope, Separated, Without you and Eternal love.

He shares a bit about the inspiration behind each song.

The inspiration for 'Marry Me' was gotten from the girls in my school who were always talking about love and how they want to get married so soon as they're done with school.


'I'm sorry' was done for a friend who had issues with his girl friend at that time and wanted it to be played for her.

'Mother's hope' was for my mother and all other mothers in the world.

'Without you' was, well the song speaks for itself. Back then I had an issue with a girl.

And 'Eternal love' was for my Creator, thanking him for everything and am still doing that.

Well I think 'Marry me' is the biggest of them all because it's loved by most or all the females in Nigeria (he smiles). Either it makes them want to get married or it reminds them of when they were proposed to by their husbands."

Sorry ladies, DC is in a relationship. (Next door please! Evil chuckle)

Concerning his producer, Ex-O, DC says he's like an elder brother to him. He understands his kind of music which very few Nigerian producers are able to do these days. He says Ex-O takes his time and does an excellent job for him and charges reasonably. (I see...)
DC is currently working on an album and also pushing his singles. He would love to do collabos with Asa, Darey, Bez and MI (The short black incredible one). As for international collabos, he's looking at working with Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne, ColdPlay and Kelly Clarkson.
DC has performed in a lot of school shows. He says his first performance was scary because it was his first time in front of a very large crowd. He recalls how everyone loved his performance and how it all turned out well. DC is currently in school and doesn't have any shows planned for now. (Talk about focus in the face of fame).
He has received a lot of offers from record labels who find his gift simply amazing and hard to resist. We do hope he gets signed to one of the big ones, because he deserves such a big platform to fully express his potential.

What does he do in his spare time, what does he have in his music playlist and where does he see himself in 5 years?

DC:
"Well I love to read,watch movies,but I mostly write songs during my spare time. I have a lot of foreign artists on my playlist such as R. Kelly, Avril Lavigne and Ne-yo but I still got Nigerian acts like Asa, Wizkid and Bez.
In 5years I want to be one of the most sort after acts in Africa and the world."

Any last words for the ladies and how you can be reached?

DC:
"Well for the ladies I will do my best to always give you good music. I'm on twitter: @donaldchuckDC, Facebook: Donald Franklin, MySpace: Donald Franklin Isedeh."

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