Dr. Alban
Alban Uzoma Nwapa (born 26 August 1957), better known by his stage name Dr. Alban, is a Nigerian-born Swedish musician and producer with his own record label, Dr. Records.[1] His music can best be described as Eurodance/hip-hop reggae in a dancehall style.[1] He has sold an estimated 16 million records worldwide[2][3][4] and is most famous for his worldwide 1992 hit "It's My Life", from the album One Love.[1]
Dr. Alban
Alban Uzoma Nwapa
26 August 1957
Oguta, Imo, Federation of Nigeria
Stockholm, Sweden
- Singer
- rapper
- producer
Vocals
1980s—present
- Dr. Alban Records
- Ariola
Life and career[edit]
Education[edit]
He got his secondary education at Christ the King College and spent most of his youth in his hometown of Oguta. At age 23, he travelled to Sweden to study dentistry at Lund University.[5][1] To finance his studies, Dr. Alban became a DJ at the Stockholm club Alphabet Street.[1]
Denniz Pop and achieving success: 1990s[edit]
In 1990, he met Denniz Pop from the SweMix label and, together with Denniz and rap artist Leila K, released his first record Hello Afrika. At this point, he took the stage name Dr. Alban, a nod to his dental studies. His debut album included hits like "Hello Afrika" and "No Coke", both of which ended up being million-selling singles.[1] The album itself was quite successful and earned him gold certification awards in numerous markets including Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units), Austria (25,000), and Switzerland (25,000).[6][7][8]
One year later, this success was surpassed by his second album One Love. The album included European hit singles such as "It's My Life" (which was used as background music for a Tampax advert) and "Sing Hallelujah". The single "It's My Life" reached No.1 in Israel, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany, and No.2 in Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.[9][10][11] The song "It's My Life" went platinum in Germany (for sales of over 500,000 units), in the Netherlands (75,000), and it sold over two million copies overall in Europe.[1][12][13] The album in turn reached the top of the album chart in Austria and entered the top five in Switzerland, also reaching No.6 in Germany.[14][15] It went gold in Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units) and platinum both in Austria and Switzerland (both 50,000).[7][16][17]
Alban's third album Look Who's Talking!, released in 1994, hit the top 10 in numerous markets including Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.[15][18] The album was the first to earn Alban a gold certification award in his home country of Sweden for sales of over 50,000 units.[19]
Dr. Alban founded his own record label Dr. Records, whereon he released his 1996 album Born in Africa. The album was unable to match the success of his previous releases. It only reached No.12 in Finland, while it peaked at No.37 in Switzerland and Sweden, No.52 in Germany, and No.41 in Austria.[15][20] The single "Born in Africa" went to number 1 in Finland.
In 1997, Alban released the compilation album The Very Best of 1990–1997, which only charted in Austria, Sweden, and Germany. The same year, the artist also released the studio album Believe, which peaked at No.27 in Sweden, No.30 in Finland, and No.41 in Austria.[21] In late 1998, Dr. Alban released a single with German-based artist Sash!, entitled "Colour the World", which experienced moderate chart success in Europe.[22]