[NIGERIA] Biography of Davido

 

David Adedeji Adeleke known mostly by his stage name Davido (a.k.a Baddest, and ‘Omo Baba Olowo’ (OBO)) is an American-born Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Today, Davido is globally known as one of the top-Nigerian musicians to fuse traditional African rhythm with global mainstream pop.

Up until now Davido has released many hit songs and has built a strong presence in the African and global music industry. His songs are played worldwide making him one of the most talented songwriters and record producers in the world.

Davido rose to fame after releasing “Dami Duro”, the second single from his debut studio album Omo Baba Olowo (2012), from which six additional singles—”Back When”, “Ekuro”, “Overseas”, “All of You”, “Gbon Gbon”, and “Feel Alright”—were taken.

He has collaborated and featured many global music icons like Chris Brown, Diamond Platnumz, Sarkodie, Tiwa Savage, and Olamide among others. He has also performed on various prominent shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and the American Festival.

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He has also won many prestigious awards like the BET international Acts in 2018, MTV Europe Music Awards (2014), Kora Awards (2012), Ben TV Awards (2014), Ghana Music Awards (2014), Nigeria Entertainment Awards (2014), City People Entertainment Awards(2014), and The Headies (2018, 2014 & 2013) etc. He has also received several nominations like the MOBO Awards (2014), AFRIMA Awards (20019), 4Syte TV Music Video Awards(2014, 2013 & 2012), and World Music Awards (2014).

Davido was born on November 21, 1992, in Atlanta, Georgia by  Adedeji Adeleke who is a business magnate, and Vero Adeleke a university lecturer. Although born in the US, Davido had his high school education at British International School in Lagos, Nigeria, and at the age of 16, he moved back to the US to study business administration at Oakwood University in Alabama.

A personality and a story that is globally celebrated today has it’s roots from Oakwood University in Alabama. Davido began his music career while studying business administration at Oakwood University. While on campus, Davido bought some recording and musical equipment to make music. However, driven by a passion for music, Davido decided to pursue music on a full-time basis and hence dropped out of the university. After dropping out, he relocated to London to work on his vocals, and in the year 2011, he made his return to Nigeria to launch his music career.

Upon getting to Nigeria, Davido was compelled by his father to at least finish with his undergraduate degree before fully embarking on his music career. As such, Davido enrolled at Babcock University in Nigeria to obtain a degree in music after his father paid the university to start a music department for an inaugural class of one student. In July 2015, he graduated from Babcock with a degree in music.

While undertaking his studies at Babcock University, in 2012, Davido won the Next Rated award at The Headies. Between 2013 and 2015, he released the hit singles “Gobe”, “One of a Kind”, “Skelewu”, “Aye”, “Tchelete (Goodlife)”, “Naughty”, “Owo Ni Koko”, “The Sound” and “The Money”.

On April 6, 2012, Nigerian Entertainment Today reported Davido had signed a 30 million Naira endorsement deal with MTN. The deal unveiled him as the face of MTN Pulse, a marketing campaign aimed at Nigerian youth.

On October 24, 2013, Pulse Nigeria reported Guinness Nigeria had signed Davido for an endorsement deal. As part of the deal, Davido performed at the Guinness World of More Concert alongside artists including P-Square, D’banj, Wizkid, Ice Prince, Burna Boy, Olamide, Phyno, Chidinma, Waje, and Tiwa Savage. On May 9, 2018, Guardian Life reported Davido had signed an endorsement deal with Infinix Mobile, a Hong Kong-based smartphone manufacturer.

In January 2016, Davido announced on Twitter he had signed a record deal with Sony Music and a few months later founded the record label Davido Music Worldwide (DMW), to which acts Dremo, Mayorkun, Yonda and Peruzzi are currently signed. In July 2016, Davido signed a record deal with Sony’s RCA Records. His record deal with Sony Music altered plans for The Baddest’s release. According to Pulse Nigeria, Davido’s contract with Sony required the album to have an international appeal to allow for global distribution.

In October 2016, he released the 5-track EP Son of Mercy, which was supported by the singles “Gbagbe Oshi”, “How Long” and “Coolest Kid in Africa”. The EP features guest appearances from Simi, Tinashe, and Nasty C. In April 2017, Davido re-negotiated his contract with Sony due to creative control issues and later that year he released five singles including “If” and “Fall”. It was produced by Tekno, who ghost-wrote the track for Davido.

“If” generated worldwide social media activity while “Fall” became the longest-charting Nigerian pop song in Billboard history. In 2017, Davido won Best African Act at the MOBO Awards.

The song “If” was certified diamond by the Recording Industry of South Africa, indicating shipments of 200,000 units. And won Best Pop Single and Song of the Year at The Headies 2018.

Reviewing for OkayAfrica, Sabo Kpade described the song as a “slow burner” with an “unfussy beat that sounds hollowed out and isn’t cluttered with instruments”.The music video for “If” was recorded in London; it was directed by Director Q and produced by Tunde Babalola. Davido teamed up with menswear designer Orange Culture to release a capsule collection inspired by “If”.

The song “Fall” samples a line from Kojo Funds’ track “Dun Talking”. “Fall” was certified platinum by the Recording Industry of South Africa, was one of the top-100-most-Shazam-searched singles in America in January 2019, and was a top-10 record on Shazam in New York. In February 2019, it became the longest-charting Nigerian pop song in Billboard history.

“Fall” was ranked at number 163 on Pitchfork’s list of the 200 Best Songs of the 2010s. The accompanying music video for “Fall” was directed by Nigerian-born British video director Daps. In December 2018, the video surpassed 100 million views, becoming the most viewed video by a Nigerian artist on YouTube.

Davido released “Fia” after “If” and “Fall”. The song was described as a neo-highlife track and was produced by Fresh VDM. In its second verse, Davido addresses his arrest and Caroline Danjuma’s role in fueling the rumor he was involved in the death of Tagbo Umenike.

In September 2018, Davido performed alongside Meek Mill, Post Malone, and Fat Joe at the Made in America Festival. Prior to the festival, he performed at the House of Blues in Boston as part of his “The Locked Up Tour”, which commenced in August and ended in September.

In January 2019, Davido sold out The O2 Arena in London, becoming the first solo African artist to do so after Wizkid headlined a concert there in 2018. He was introduced on stage by Idris Elba and performed several of his hit singles with the backing band The Compozers. Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave the concert four stars out of five, calling Davido an “alpha” and saying “many of his mannerisms are influenced by the American rappers with whom he has worked, including Young Thug and Swae Lee.

The Chris Brown-assisted track “Blow My Mind” was released on July 26, 2019. It was produced by Shizzi and was initially intended to be released as the album’s lead single.

Davido released his second studio album A Good Time in November 2019. It was supported by the previously released singles “If”, “Fall”, “Assurance”, “Blow My Mind” and “Risky”.

In May 2020, Davido announced that his third studio album would be titled A Better Time, and that it would include 11 tracks, with features from Nicki Minaj and Tiwa Savage. In July, he performed on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and was seen in the studio with rapper Nas.

On August 31, 2020, Davido returned to social media after taking a three-month break to chat with the Grammy Museum on Instagram Live about the rise of Afrobeats and other issues within the industry. During the Live session, Davido revealed that he had completed work on A Better Time. 

On 10 September 2020, Davido returned with the single, “FEM”, alongside its music video, which was produced by Dammy Twitch. Davido’s single “FEM” Video hit 1.8 Million YouTube views in less than 24 hours, breaking his own record for the fastest Nigerian music video to hit 1 million views on YouTube, a record previously held by his own song Blow My Mind featuring Chris Brown.

Among other things, Davido is a father of three children. He is also currently among the top 10 richest musicians in Nigeria with a net worth of $10 million.

Some List of Songs By Davido

2021: Shopping Spree featuring Chris Brown, and Young Thug, 2021: Scripture featuring Dexta Daps, 2021: La La featuring Ckay, 2021: The Best featuring Mayorkun, 2020: So Crazy featuring Lil Baby, 2020: FEM, 2020: Jowo 2020: Intro, 2020: 1 Mili, 2020: Green Light Riddim, 2019: D & G featuring Summer Walker, 2019: Risky featuring Popcaan, 2019: Blow My Mind featuring Chris Brown, 2017: Pere featuring Rae Sremmurd and Young Thung, 2016: Coolest Kind in Africa featuring Nasty C,

2016: How Long featuring Tinashe 2015: The Money featuring Olamide 2015: The Sound featuring Uhuru and Dj Buckz 2015: Fans Mi featuring Meek Mill 2014: Tchelete (Goodlife) featuring Mafikizolo 2012: Feel Alright featuring Ice Prince 2012: Overseas featuring Sina Rambo 2011: Back When featuring Naeto C 2018: Flora My Flawa 2018: Assurance 2018: Nwa Baby 2018: Wonder Woman 2017: If 2017: Fall 2017: Fia 2017: Like Dat 2016: Gbagbe Oshi 2015: Dodo 2015: Fans Mi 2015: Owo Ni Koko 2015: Aye 2013: One of a Kind 2013: Gobe 2013: Skelewu 2012: All of You 2012: Gbon Gbon 2011: Dami Duro