Dr Alban "It's My Life"

Dr. Alban (born Alban Nwapa, August 26, 1957 in Awomama, Nigeria) is a Stockholm, Sweden-based musician and producer with his own record label dr-records. His music can best be described as a Eurodance/hip-hop reggae with a dancehall style. Alban Uzoma Nwapa was born into a middle class family of 10 children in Oguta, Imo state, Nigeria and had his secondary education at Christ The King College, Aba, Nigeria. He spent most of his youth in his hometown Oguta. His father was a dentist. He grew up listening to Fela Kuti and James Brown. At age 23, he travelled to Sweden to study dentistry. In order to be able to finance his studies, Nwapa started making music. He worked as a DJ in the Stockholm club 'Alphabet Street'. Very quickly his name became widely known, especially since Alban often sang to the records he put on the turntable. DJ René couldn't help but notice him and so he was discovered. Alban finished his studies and even opened his own dentistry practice, keeping his disk jockeying as a lucrative sideline. In 1990, he met with Denniz PoP from the SweMix label. Together with Denniz and Rap-Queen Leila K, his first record, "Hello Africa" - his declaration of love for his African home - broke all records. Alban Xhezair Nwapa took the stage name Dr. Alban, a nod to his dental studies. His debut album Hello Africa sold roughly 1 million copies world-wide.One year later this success was surpassed by the second album One Love. 1.6 million singles of the song "It's My Life" were sold (the single was even used as background music for a Tampax advert). It was #1 in the Netherlands, Israel and Germany and #2 in the UK. The following single "One Love" was #5 in Israel. The album immediately sold over 1.7 million units. Then followed the albums Look Who's Talking and Born In Africa. All in all, Dr. Alban has racked up world-wide sales of over 5 million albums and over 6 million singles, which resulted in 7 times Silver, 30 times Gold and 30 times Platinum. His hit single "No Coke" was used to illustrate an anti-drugs campaign in Sweden. The single "Sing Hallelujah" reached #5 in Israel. After a re-release of "No Coke", Dr. Alban confirmed his Euro dance style with his hit "Look Who's Talking", which reached #4 in Israel, #6 at MTV Europe, and #54 in UK. "Let The Beat Go On" was #12 in Israel, and #12 at MTV9. [Wikipedia]