Dr. Alban
| Dr. Alban | |
|---|---|
 Dr. Alban during a live concert in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alban Nwapa |
| Born |
26 August 1957 Imo, Nigeria |
| Origin | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genres | Eurodance, hip hop, reggae fusion, house, dancehall |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Labels | Dr. Records, Ariola |
| Associated acts | Leila K, Denniz Pop, Kikki Danielsson, Sash!, Haddaway |
| Website | dralban.net |
Alban Uzoma Nwapa (born 26 August 1957), 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 a Eurodance/hip-hop reggae with a dancehall style.[1] He sold an estimated 16 million records worldwide[2][3][4] and is most famous for his worldwide 1992 hit "It's My Life" which was one of the songs from the album titled "One Love".[1]
Biography
Dr. Alban was born as Alban Uzoma Nwapa into a middle-class family of 10 children in Oguta, Imo state, Nigeria.[1] He had his secondary education at Christ The King College, Aba, Nigeria and spent most of his youth in his hometown Oguta. At age of 23, he travelled to Sweden to study dentistry.[1] To be able to finance his studies, Dr. Alban became a DJ. He worked as a DJ at the Stockholm club Alphabet Street.[1] Very quickly his name became widely known, especially since Dr. Alban often sang to the records he put on the turntable. DJ René Hedemyr discovered him. Alban finished his studies and even opened his own dentistry practice, keeping his disk jockeying as a lucrative sideline.
In 1990, he met Denniz Pop from the SweMix label and together with Denniz and Rap-Queen Leila K, they released his first record, "Hello Afrika". Alban Uzoma Nwapa took the stage name Dr. Alban, a nod to his dental studies. His debut album Hello Afrika included hits like "Hello Afrika" and "No Coke", both of which ended up being million-selling singles.[1] The album itself was quite successful which earned Alban Gold-certification-awards in numerous markets including Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units), Austria (for sales of over 25,000 units) and Switzerland (for sales of over 25,000 units).[5][6][7]
One year later this success was surpassed by the second album One Love. The album contained 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, Germany and No.2 in Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom.[8][9][10] While the song "It's My Life" reached Platinum status in Germany (for sales of over 500,000 units), in the Netherlands (for sales of over 75,000), it managed to sell over two million copies in Europe.[1][11][12] The album in its turn reached the top of the album chart in Austria and entered the top-5 in Switzerland, also managed to reach No.6 in Germany.[13][14] The album received a Gold-certification-award in Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units) and Platinum-award both in Austria and Switzerland (for sales of over 50,000).[6][15][16]
Alban's third album Look Who's Talking! was released in 1994, which managed to enter the top-10 in numerous markets including Germany, Switzerland and Austria.[14][17] The album was the first to earn Alban a Gold certification award in his home country Sweden for sales of over 50,000 units.[18]
Dr. Alban founded his own record label Dr. Records, whereon he released his 1996 album, Born in Africa. The album was unable to match up with the success of the previous album releases. It only reached the No.12 position in Finland, while it peaked at No.37 in Switzerland and Sweden, No.52 in Germany, No.41 in Austria.[14][19]
In 1997, Alban released a compilation album entitled The Very Best of 1990–1997 which only charted in Austria, Sweden and Germany. In 1997, Alban, also released a studio album entitled Believe which peaked at No.27 in Sweden, No.30 in Finland, and No.41 in Austria.[20] In the end of 1998, Dr. Alban released a single with German-based artist Sash!, entitled "Colour the World" which experienced a moderate chart success in Europe.[21]
In 2000, Alban released a single entitled "What Do I Do" which appeared on the album chart of Sweden only at No.43, it spent only two weeks on the charts there.[22] The album Prescription was a flop as it failed to chart anywhere.
In 2007, after years of absence from the music scene, Dr. Alban released a new studio album Back to Basics. It was sold on the Internet only, through Dr. Alban's official website. In Russia; however, both the physical CDs and cassettes were released.
In 2014, on 15 February, at the Scandinavium arena in Göteborg, Dr. Alban teamed up with Jessica Folcker in the third heat of Melodifestivalen 2014 performing last with the song "Around the World" to win the chance to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [23] |
AUS [24] |
AUT [25] |
FIN [26] |
GER [27] |
NDL [28] |
NOR [29] |
SWI [30] | ||||||
| Hello Afrika |
|
6 | – | 2 | 3 | 11 | 43 | – | 8 | ||||
| One Love | 15 | – | 1 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 15 | 3 | |||||
| Look Who's Talking! | 11 | 98 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 28 | 13 | 8 | |||||
| Born in Africa | 37 | – | 41 | 12 | 52 | – | – | 37 | |||||
| I Believe | 27 | – | 41 | 30 | – | – | – | — | |||||
| Prescription |
|
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | ||||
| Back to Basics |
|
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [23] |
AUT [25] |
GER [27] | |||||||||||
| The Very Best of 1990–1997 |
|
38 | 38 | 66 | |||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Singles (as lead artist)
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [32] |
AUS [24] |
AUT [25] |
FIN [33] |
GER [34] |
NLD [35] |
NOR [29] |
SPA [36] |
SWI [37] |
UK [38] |
US [39] | ||||
| "Hello Afrika" (feat. Leila K.) |
1990 | 7 | – | 1 | – | 2 | 25 | – | 7 | 3 | – | — | Hello Afrika | |
| "No Coke" | 1 | – | 2 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | – | — |
| ||
| "U & Mi" | 1991 | 20 | – | 11 | 6 | 14 | – | – | 15 | 9 | – | — | ||
| "(Sing Shi-Wo-Wo) Stop The Pollution" | 36 | – | 16 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 13 | – | — | |||
| "It's My Life" | 1992 | 1 | 43 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 88 | One Love | |
| "One Love" | 19 | – | 9 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 10 | – | 11 | 45 | — | |||
| "Sing Hallelujah" | 1993 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | – | 4 | 16 | — | ||
| "Look Who's Talking" | 1994 | 2 | – | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 55 | — | Look Who's Talking! | |
| "Away from Home" | 24 | 92 | 12 | 2 | 25 | 45 | – | 5 | 26 | 42 | – | |||
| "Let the Beat Go On" | 17 | – | 23 | 3 | 18 | 19 | 1 | – | – | — | — | |||
| "Sweet Dreams" (feat. Swing) |
1995 | 12 | – | – | 4 | – | 44 | – | – | – | 59 | — | Non-album Track | |
| "This Time I'm Free" | 3 | – | 23 | 1 | 27 | 35 | 11 | – | 32 | – | — | Born in Africa | ||
| "Born in Africa" | 1996 | 11 | – | 31 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 47 | – | — | ||
| "Hallelujah Day" | 30 | – | 35 | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | |||
| "It's My Life '97" (feat. Sash!) |
1997 | – | – | – | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | The Very Best of 1990–1997 | |
| "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Carolina)" | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | I Believe | ||
| "Mr. DJ" | – | – | 21 | 8 | 70 | – | – | 3 | – | – | — | |||
| "Long Time Ago" | 55 | – | – | 15 | – | – | – | 15 | – | – | — | |||
| "Feel the Rhythm" | 1998 | 56 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | – | – | — | ||
| "What Do I Do" | 2000 | 43 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | Prescription | |
| "Because of You" | 2002 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| "Work, Work" | 2003 | 13 | – | – | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Non-album Track | |
| "Habibi" (feat. Melissa) |
2008 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | Back to Basics | |
| "We Love The 90's" (feat. Haddaway) |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | Non-album Track | ||
| "Freedom" | 2012 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| "Loverboy" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | |||
| "It's My Life 2014" | 2014 | – | – | 39 | – | 29 | – | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| "Around the World" (feat. Jessica Folcker) |
52 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | |||
| "Hurricane" | 2015 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||||
Singles (as featured artist)
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [41] |
FIN [42] |
FR [43] |
GER [34] |
NDL [44] |
SWI [45] |
UK [46] | |||||||
| "Papaya Coconut" (Kikki Danielsson feat. Dr. Alban) |
1998 | 22 | – | – | – | – | – | – | Non-album Track | ||||
| "Colour the World" (Sash! feat. Dr. Alban) |
1999 | 54 | – | – | 39 | 69 | 39 | 15 | |||||
| "Sing Hallelujah (New Version)" (Yamboo feat. Dr. Alban) |
2005 | – | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | Okama de Mapouka | ||||
| "Chiki Chiki" (Starclub feat. Dr. Alban) |
2006 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Non-album Track | ||||
| "It's My Life (Don't Worry)" (Chawki feat. Dr. Alban) |
2014 | – | – | 187 | – | – | – | – | Non-album Track | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
In popular culture
In the British TV series Little Britain, Dr. Alban is the name of the doctor to whom Vicky Pollard visits when she is pregnant.[47]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Allmusic: Dr. Alban (Biography)". Allmusic. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ↑ http://www.dralban.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=118
- ↑ http://www.naijasmostincredible.com/dr-alban-50-greatest-nigerians-of-all-time/
- ↑ http://www.calista.com.tr/news/newsread.asp?ID=114
- ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dr. Alban; 'Hello Afrika')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Gold & Platin". IFPI (Austria). Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- 1 2 "AWARDS 1991". IFPI (Switzerland). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ↑ "DR. ALBAN: IT'S MY LIFE (SONG)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ "Charts.de: Dr. Alban (Singles)". Charts.de. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ↑ "ChartStats: Dr. Alban". ChartStats. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dr. Alban; 'It's My Life')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- 1 2 "Dr. Alban – It's my life". NVPI. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: One Love (Album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- 1 2 3 "Charts.de: Dr. Alban (Albums)". Charts.de. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dr. Alban; 'One Love')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- 1 2 "AWARDS 1992". IFPI (Switzerland). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: Look Who's Talking Now (Album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 "Guld & Platina 1987–1988" (PDF) (in Swedish). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: Born in Africa (Album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: Believe (Album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: Colour the World (Single)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: What Do I Do (Single)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- 1 2 "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart-History for Sweden". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- 1 2 Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Discography Dr. Alban". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- Top 100 peaks: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- "Away From Home" "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 28 Aug 1994". ARIA. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart History for Austria". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart History for Finland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- 1 2 "Charts.de: Dr. Alban (Albums)". Charts.de. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart History for Holland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- 1 2 "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart History for Norway". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: Album Chart History for Switzerland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dr. Alban)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ Peak positions for Swedish Singles:
- For all titles except those indicated below: "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart-History for Sweden". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- For "Sweet Dreams": "Swing Feat. Dr. Alban: Sweet Dreams (Sweden)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- For "Colour the World":"Sash! Feat. Dr. Alban: Colour the World (Sweden)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ Peak positions for Finland:
- For all titles except those indicated below:"Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart History for Finland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- For pre-1995 singles: Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
- For "Look Who's Talking": "Hits of the World: Finland (3/9/94)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- For "This Time I'm Free": "Hits of the World: Finland (8/5/95)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- 1 2 "Charts.de: Dr. Alban (Singles)". Charts.de. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ Peak positions for Dutch Singles:
- For all titles except those indicated below: "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart History for Holland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- For "Sweet Dreams": "Swing Feat. Dr. Alban: Sweet Dreams (Holland)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- For "Colour the World":"Sash! Feat. Dr. Alban: Colour the World (Holland)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- ↑ Peak positions for Swiss Singles:
- For all titles except those indicated below: "Dr. Alban: Singles Chart History for Switzerland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- For "Colour the World":"Sash! Feat. Dr. Alban". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ Peak positions for UK Singles:
- For all titles except those indicated below: "Official Chart Company: Dr. Alban". Official Chart Company. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- For "Sweet Dreams": "Official Chart Company: Swing feat. Dr. Alban". Official Chart Company. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- For "Colour the World": "Official Chart Company: Sash! feat. Dr. Alban". Official Chart Company. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "Billboard: Dr Alban (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- ↑ Peak positions for Swedish Singles:
- For all titles except those indicated below: "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart-History for Sweden". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- For "Colour the World":"Sash! Feat. Dr. Alban: Colour the World (Sweden)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart History for Finland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ↑ "Dr. Alban: Album / Song Chart History for France". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ↑ Peak positions for Dutch Singles:
- For "Colour the World":"Sash! Feat. Dr. Alban: Colour the World (Holland)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ Peak positions for Swiss Singles:
- For "Colour the World":"Sash! Feat. Dr. Alban". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ↑ Peak positions for UK Singles:
- For "Colour the World": "Official Chart Company: Sash! feat. Dr. Alban". Official Chart Company. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ TV.com http://www.tv.com/shows/little-britain/watch/series-1-episode-6-284957/. Missing or empty
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