"I Changed The Name Bandana Because It Was Too Local" – Shatta Wale

Every day break comes with its own new discoveries— until now, I never knew the name Shatta Wale was any exotic. It beats me to think that “Bandana” is way too local as compared to Shatta Wale but coming from the camp it is coming from, I guess it is just typical.
If my memory would serve me accurate, Shatta Wale sprung up after being away from the showbizness circles for over ten years. Not only did he come with good music and astute notoriety, he came with a change of name.
Before Shatta Wale, he was Bandana and the self acclaimed dancehall king has come out to explain why he changed his name. In an interview with MTV.CO.UK, this is what he had to say:
“Well, it was rebranding… I wanted to explore more into the world. I wanted to make my songs known by the bigger markets, and as a dancehall artist I thought that the name Bandana was a bit local for the international market. Because we all know what Bandana is, but I had a different meaning for it. Later on I decided to get a name that will at least cause news, the only name that could do that was Shatta.
But most Nigerians think that I’m Nigerian because of it. It’s good as a marketing strategy as well because anytime I go to Nigeria, people always ask me if I’m from there and I’m like ‘No’. They have a different meaning for Wale, so I just felt let me add the Wale to the Shatta and see how it goes and I think it has really worked. It’s an African ting.”
I believe we all understand now.