DID YOU KNOW? D1, Keke of Kennis Music were once brand influencers

Dayo ‘D1’ Adeneye, the co-founder of Kennis Music, says he and Kenny ‘Keke’ Ogungbe used to be influencers for clothing brands back in the 1990s.

The term influencers became popular during the advent of social media platforms in the late 2000s.

Influencers are a group of persons with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Today’s influencers help in the advertisement of all sorts of brands including those in real estate, sports and betting, skincare, fashion, fintech, and many others.

Reminiscing on their days as influencers, D1 said he used to advertise brands with Keke on AIT Jamz, the television show.

D1, who spoke when he featured in ‘Afrobeats: The Backstory’, a music documentary produced by Ayo Shonaiya, the filmmaker, said the brands they advertised would always sell out a day after the advertisement had been aired.

“In those days, we didn’t have social media. We didn’t have Whatsapp or Facebook, but we realised that whatever we wore, as a matter of fact, when we were doing AIT Jamz, we used to be clothed by several brands and we would talk about what we were wearing,” he said.

“People would think we were showing off but they didn’t know we were advertising those brands. And the stores used to tell us whatever we wore on Friday night, on Saturday night was sold out.

“So what they are doing as influencers, we started it way back then.”

D1 also disclosed that they both lived in the United States before they travelled back to Nigeria for the purpose of “influencing the culture”.

After years in the US, D1 said they were approached by Raymond Dokpesi, the owner of Africa Independent Television (AIT) to start a programme in his media company.

In the late 1990s, the duo started hosting AIT Jamz. The name of the show was later changed to PrimeTime Jamz on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

It was during their time as presenters that the pair discovered The Remedies, the boy band which included Eedris Abdulkareem, Tony Tetuila, and Eddy Montana.

D1 and Keke also discovered the late Sound Sultan, 2Baba, and Oritse Femi.

They founded Kennis Music, which is recognised as the mother of all record labels in Nigeria.

The artistes they have managed and housed include Jaywon, Eldee, late Goldie Harvey, K.C Presh, OJB Jezreel, and many more artists. 

In 2012, Ogungbe was appointed as the managing director of Raypower FM, a group of independent private Nigerian radio stations. He is also a non-executive director of DAAR Communications, an indie broadcasting organisation.

In 2015, Adeneye was appointed as commissioner for information by Ibikunle Amosun, the former governor of Ogun state.