Dr. Alban
Dr. Alban (* 26. August 1957 in Oguta , Imo , Nigeria ; actually Alban Uzoma Nwapa ) is a Swedish - Nigerian pop - musician , rapper , producer with his own music label Dr. Records as well as dentist.
Life
Alban Uzoma Nwapa grew up listening to music by Fela Kuti and James Brown . He comes from a family with ten children from Oguta in what is now the Imo state in Nigeria and emigrated to Sweden when he was 18. At the age of 23 he began to study dentistry in Stockholm . In order to finance his university studies, he worked as a DJ in the nationally known Stockholm nightclub Alphabet Street. His style quickly made him known beyond the discotheque, because he used to put his own chant over the records he played.
Alban finished his studies and opened his own dental practice. Nevertheless, he kept his job as a sideline DJ.
In 1990 he met Denniz PoP from the Swedish record label SweMix, with whom he recorded his first single Hello Afrika . Based on his previous profession, he took the stage name Dr. Alban. The album Hello Afrika , released in autumn 1990, sold around a million copies worldwide.
In 1992 this success was even exceeded: The single It's My Life landed at number 1 in the charts in Germany and sold around 1.6 million copies, while the album One Love sold over 1.7 million copies.
Especially in the first half of the 1990s he was a regular in the international charts with his hits. All in all, Dr. Alban has worldwide sales of over 5 million albums and over 6 million singles. With hits like Hello Afrika (1990), No Coke (1990), It's My Life (1992), Sing Hallelujah (1993) and Look Who's Talking (1994), he was one of the most successful performers on the dance floor .
Dr. Alban is the uncle of Ricarda Wältken , a member of the former band Tic Tac Toe .
Alban Nwapa lives in Stockholm with his Swedish wife and daughter .
Discography
Studio albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | SE | |||
1990 | The Album - Hello Africa |
DE11
gold
(27 weeks)DE |
AT2
gold
(22 weeks)AT |
CH8th
gold
(15 weeks)CH |
- |
SE6 (7 weeks) SE |
First published: October 1990
|
1992 | One Love - The Album |
DE6th
gold
(39 weeks)DE |
AT1
platinum
(28 weeks)AT |
CH3
platinum
(27 weeks)CH |
- |
SE15 (7 weeks) SE |
First published: May 1992
|
1994 | Look Who's Talking! - The album |
DE7 (23 weeks) DE |
AT7th
gold
(16 weeks)AT |
CH8 (15 weeks) CH |
- |
SE11
gold
(17 weeks)SE |
First published: March 1994
|
1996 | Born in Africa |
DE52 (7 weeks) DE |
AT41 (3 weeks) AT |
CH37 (2 weeks) CH |
- |
SE37 (3 weeks) SE |
First published: March 1996
|
1997 | I believe | - |
AT41 (2 weeks) AT |
- | - |
SE27 (4 weeks) SE |
First published: October 1997
|
Compilations
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | SE | |||
1997 | The Very Best of 1990-1997 |
DE66 (4 weeks) DE |
AT38 (5 weeks) AT |
- | - |
SE38 (3 weeks) SE |
First published: June 30, 1997
|
more publishments
- 2001: Prescription
- 2007: Back to Basics
- 2014: The Ultimate Collection 1990-2014
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | SE | |||
1990 | Hello Africa The Album - Hello Africa |
DE2 (23 weeks) DE |
AT1
platinum
(16 weeks)AT |
CH3 (15 weeks) CH |
- | - |
SE7th
gold
(8 weeks)SE |
First release: July 1990
feat. Leila K. |
No Coke The Album - Hello Africa |
DE3 (21 weeks) DE |
AT2 (14 weeks) AT |
CH3 (17 weeks) CH |
- | - |
SE1
platinum
(6 weeks)SE |
First published: September 1990
|
|
1991 | U & Mi The Album - Hello Africa |
DE14 (12 weeks) DE |
AT11 (11 weeks) AT |
CH9 (8 weeks) CH |
- | - |
SE20 (1 week) SE |
First published: January 1991
|
(Sing Shi-Wo-Wo) Stop the Pollution The Album - Hello Africa |
- |
AT16 (7 weeks) AT |
CH13 (6 weeks) CH |
- | - |
SE36 (1 week) SE |
First published: May 1991
|
|
1992 |
It's My Life One Love - The Album |
DE1
platinum
(42 weeks)DE |
AT1 *
platinum
(37 weeks)AT |
CH2 (34 weeks) CH |
UK2 (12 weeks) UK |
US88 (11 weeks) US |
SE1 (12 weeks) SE |
First published: February 1992
* Raggadag Remix |
One Love One Love - The Album |
DE7 (23 weeks) DE |
AT9 (14 weeks) AT |
CH11 (12 weeks) CH |
UK45 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
SE19 (7 weeks) SE |
First published: June 1992
|
|
1993 |
Sing Hallelujah One Love - The Album |
DE4th
platinum
(33 weeks)DE |
AT7 (19 weeks) AT |
CH4 (28 weeks) CH |
UK16 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
SE6 (8 weeks) SE |
First published: February 1993
|
1994 | Look Who's Talking Look Who's Talking! - The album |
DE3 (20 weeks) DE |
AT3 (15 weeks) AT |
CH6 (19 weeks) CH |
UK55 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
SE2 (12 weeks) SE |
First published: February 1994
|
Away from Home Look Who's Talking! - The album |
DE25 (13 weeks) DE |
AT12 (12 weeks) AT |
CH26 (11 weeks) CH |
UK42 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
SE24 (8 weeks) SE |
First published: May 1994
|
|
Let the Beat Go On Look Who's Talking! - The album |
DE18 (14 weeks) DE |
AT23 (4 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
SE17 (11 weeks) SE |
First published: August 1994
|
|
1995 | This Time I'm Free Born In Africa |
DE27 (13 weeks) DE |
AT23 (2 weeks) AT |
CH32 (11 weeks) CH |
- | - |
SE3 (11 weeks) SE |
First published: July 1995
|
1996 | Born in Africa Born In Africa |
- |
AT31 (5 weeks) AT |
CH47 (3 weeks) CH |
- | - |
SE11 (13 weeks) SE |
First published: February 1996
|
Hallelujah Day Born In Africa |
- |
AT35 (2 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
SE30 (5 weeks) SE |
First published: September 1996
|
|
1997 | Mr. DJ I Believe |
DE70 (4 weeks) DE |
AT21 (10 weeks) AT |
- | - | - | - |
First published: June 1997
|
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner I Believe |
- | - | - | - | - |
SE6 (12 weeks) SE |
First release: August 1997
feat. Michael Rose |
|
Long Time Ago I Believe |
- | - | - | - | - |
SE55 (2 weeks) SE |
First published: November 1997
|
|
1998 | Feel the Rhythm I Believe |
- | - | - | - | - |
SE56 (1 week) SE |
First published: May 1998
|
2001 | What Do I Do Prescription |
- | - | - | - | - |
SE43 (2 weeks) SE |
First published: April 2001
|
2003 | Work, work back to basics |
- | - | - | - | - |
SE13 (8 weeks) SE |
First published: July 2003
|
2014 | Around the world | - | - | - | - | - |
SE52 (1 week) SE |
First published: February 2014
with Jessica Folcker |
It's My Life 2014 |
DE29 (7 weeks) DE |
AT39 (3 weeks) AT |
CH61 (1 week) CH |
- | - | - |
First published: January 30, 2014
vs. Bodybangers |
More singles
- 1992: One Love - remix
- 1997: It's My Life '97 (feat. Sash! )
- 2002: Because of You
- 2006: Chiki Chiki (with Starclub)
- 2008: Habibi (feat. Melissa)
- 2008: We Love The 90’s (feat. Haddaway )
- 2012: Freedom
- 2012: Loverboy
- 2014: It's My Life (Don't Worry) (with Chawki)
- 2015: Hurricane
As a guest musician
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | SE | |||
1993 | Alrabaiye (Take Me Up) | - | - | - | - |
SE23 (4 weeks) SE |
First release: September 1993
Amadin feat. Swing & Dr. Alban |
1995 | sweet Dreams | - | - | - |
UK59 (2 weeks) UK |
SE12 (7 weeks) SE |
First release: February 1995
Swing feat. Dr. Alban |
1998 | Papaya Coconut (Come Along) Dagar som kommer och går |
- | - | - | - |
SE22 (11 weeks) SE |
First published: September 1998
Kikki Danielsson featuring Dr. Alban |
1999 | Alla vi | - | - | - | - |
SE29 (3 weeks) SE |
|
Color the World Life Goes On |
DE39 (6 weeks) DE |
- |
CH39 (2 weeks) CH |
UK15 (6 weeks) UK |
SE54 (2 weeks) SE |
First published: March 1999
Sash! featuring Dr. Alban |
|
2005 | Sing Hallelujah Okama de Mapouka |
DE74 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - |
First published: November 2005
Yamboo featuring Dr. Alban |
Awards
- 1993: in the category "catchy tune of the year" (It's My Life)
See also
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Singles Discography on 45cat.com
- Discography on rateyourmusic.com
- Charts and data on chartsurfer.de
- discogs.com
- swedishcharts.com/Dr. Alban
Individual evidence
- ↑ What is actually ... Dr. Alban? , stern.de of July 15, 2007, requested on April 26, 2017.
- ↑ Awards: DE AT CH SE
- ↑ RSH Gold Award 1993
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Dr. Alban |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Nwapa, Alban (real name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Nigerian-Swedish pop musician, rapper and producer |
DATE OF BIRTH | August 26, 1957 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Oguta , Imo , Nigeria |