Dr. Alban was born Alban Uzoma Nwapa into a middle-class family of 10 children in Oguta, Imo state, Nigeria. He is Igbo. He had his secondary education at Christ The King College, Aba, Nigeria and spent most of his youth in his hometown Oguta. At age 23, he traveled to Sweden to study dentistry.





To finance his studies, Dr. Alban became a DJ at the Stockholm club Alphabet Street. Very quickly his name became widely known, especially since Dr. Alban often sang to the records he put on the turntables. DJ René Hedemyr discovered him. Alban finished his studies and even opened his own dentistry practice, keeping his DJing as a lucrative sideline. In 1990, he met Denniz Pop from the SweMix label and, together with Denniz and rap artist Leila K, 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.The album itself was quite successful and earned him gold certification awards in numerous markets including Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units), Austria (25,000) and Switzerland (25,000).







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. One year later, this success was surpassed by his 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.

While the song "It's My Life" went platinum in Germany (for sales of over 500,000 units), in the Netherlands (75,000), it sold over two million copies in Europe.

The album in turn reached the top of the album chart in Austria and entered the top five in Switzerland, also reaching No.6 in Germany.

The album went gold in Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units) and platinum both in Austria and Switzerland (both 50,000). Alban's third album Look Who's Talking!, released in 1994, hit the top 10 in numerous markets including Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

The album was the first to earn Alban a gold certification award in his home country of Sweden for sales of over 50,000 units.

Dr. Alban founded his own record label Dr. Records, whereon he released his 1996 album, Born in Africa. The album was unable to match the success of his previous releases. It only reached No.12 in Finland, while it peaked at No.37 in Switzerland and Sweden, No.52 in Germany, No.41 in Austria.





In 1997, Alban released the compilation album The Very Best of 1990–1997, which only charted in Austria, Sweden and Germany. In 1997, Alban also released the studio album Believe, which peaked at No.27 in Sweden, No.30 in Finland and No.41 in Austria.



In late 1998, Dr. Alban released a single with German dj Sash!, entitled "Colour the World", which experienced moderate chart success in Europe.In 2000, Alban released the single "What Do I Do", which charted only in Sweden at No.43; it spent only two weeks on the charts there.

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 the studio album Back to Basics. It was sold on the Internet only through Dr. Alban's official website.