Dr Alban

Dr Alban's route into pop ran through a dental degree. Born Ogbuagu Alban Uzoma Nwapa in Oguta, Imo state, in Nigeria, he moved to Sweden at 23 to study dentistry at Lund University, and paid his way by spinning records at the Stockholm club Alphabet Street. His sound blends Eurodance with hip-hop and dancehall-style reggae, and he runs his own label, Dr. Records. Estimates put his worldwide sales at around 16 million records.

His partnership with Denniz Pop of SweMix and rapper Leila K produced Hello Afrika in 1990, and the debut album's singles Hello Afrika and No Coke both sold in the millions. The follow-up, One Love, gave him It's My Life, which topped the charts in Germany, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands. Later work included a 2014 Melodifestivalen entry with Jessica Folcker, Around the World, which won them the right to represent Sweden at Eurovision that year. In 2020 he revisited Hello Afrika as Hello Sverige and Hello Nations, encouraging social distancing during the pandemic.