Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Davido relocated to Lagos at a young age. His debut album Omo Baba Olowo, released in 2012, was initiated by the bringing out of singles "Back When" featuring Naeto C, "Dami Duro", "All of You", "Overseas" featuring Sina Rambo, "Ekuro", "Gbon Gbon" and "Feel Alright" featuring Ice Prince. Between 2013 and 2015, Davido released the singles "Gobe", "One of a Kind", "Skelewu", "Aye", "Tchelete (Goodlife)" featuring Mafikizolo, "Naughty" featuring DJ Arafat, "Owo Ni Koko", "The Sound" and "The Money" featuring Olamide. The aforementioned singles were reportedly intended to be singles off the album, The Baddest.
In January 2016, Davido announced via Twitter that he signed a record deal with Sony Music. His announcement was met with mixed reactions. The record label put out a press release to confirm the deal. Davido started his own label, Davido Music Worldwide (DMW), few months after signing with Sony. Dremo and Mayorkun are currently signed to the label. In July 2016, Davido signed a record deal with Sony's RCA Records
Davido was born on November 21, 1992, to Chief Deji and Vero
Adeleke in Atlanta, Georgia. His
father is a Nigerian business magnate
and his late mother was a university lecturer.
He attended the British
International School in Lagos. Davido studied Business
Administration at Oakwood University
prior to relocating to Nigeria. Davido's interest in music started during his
time at Oakwood University. He bought musical equipment and started making
beats, in addition to recording vocal references.
He dropped out of Oakwood University when he started getting
bad grades and relocated to London, where he focused more of his energy towards
vocals as opposed to production. When Davido returned to Nigeria in 2011, his
music career was sidelined after he agreed to honor his father by enrolling at
Babcock University. In July 2015, Davido earned a music degree from Babcock
after his father paid the university to erect a music department for an
inaugural class of one.
2011–2012:Omo Baba Olowo
Main article: Omo Baba Olowo
Work on Davido's debut studio album, Omo Baba Olowo,
began in 2011. On May 7, 2011, Davido produced and released his first musical
recording "Back When" which was a major hit. The song served as the
album's lead single and received frequent airplay.
The music video for the single, uploaded onto YouTube on May
9, 2011, was shot and directed in Nigeria by Clarence Peters. Davido told Factory 78 TV
that he recorded "Back When" in London. Davido co-produced "Dami Duro"
with Shizzi and released it on October 30, 2011. The music video for "Dami
Duro" was released on January 8, 2012. It was shot and directed in Lagos
by Clarence Peters, and was released during the Occupy Nigeria protests. In an interview posted
on NotJustOk, Davido spoke on the release and
composition of "Dami Duro".
He said he recorded "Dami Duro"
in August 2011. Three months later, the song got leaked after he sent it out to
some friends. On May 6, 2012, HKN Music released "Overseas" as a
single off the album. The unfinished version of the song leaked prior to the
official release. On September 28, 2012, HKN Music released the music video for
"All of You". The song was produced by Gospelondebeatz. In an interview with Factory
78 TV, Davido said he recorded the song with Gospel after meeting him at a
mall. To further promote the album, Davido released music videos for
"Ekuro", "Gbon Gbon", and "Feel Alright".
2013–2015:The Baddest
promotional singles and Africa Rising campaign
In early 2013, Davido began recording his second studio album.
On February 25, 2013, he released "Gobe" as the upcoming album's lead single.
The song was produced by Shizzi. Charles Mgbolu of Vanguard commented on
the release of the single, saying: "It’s a beautiful song with a
tremendous video running along. In Gobe, Davido is beaten up by thugs after
winning the girl. It’s a song that exudes fun from start to finish." The
music video for the single was shot in South Africa by Godfather Productions. The song was ranked second on Premium Times list of the Top 10 songs of
2013.
Davido announced via Twitter that the second single
"One of a Kind", from the upcoming album, would be released on May
13, 2013. The song was also produced by the aforementioned in-house producer.
The music video for "One of a Kind" was shot and directed in South
Africa by Tebza of Godfather Productions. It visualizes a united Africa rich in
culture and music.
"Skelewu", the third
single from the upcoming album, was released on August 13, 2013. It was ranked 5th on the aforementioned
list of the top 10 songs of 2013. The song peaked at number 1 on Afribiz's Top
100 chart. A dance competition with a cash prize of $3000 (₦480,000) was
announced days after the release of the song. Davido uploaded an instructional
dance video onto YouTube and asked fans to upload videos of themselves dancing
to "Skelewu". On October 10, 2013, Davido declared Bello Moshood
Abiola the winner of the competition. A week after announcing the winner of the
Skelewu dance competition, a Sesan directed music video was released to the
public.
Shortly after the release of the video, Davido took to Twitter to
debunk the video and said that someone betrayed him by releasing it. He also
said he'll re-shoot the video with Moe Musa, a UK based music video director.
Sesan commented on the release of the music video and said that Davido was
satisfied with his contributions to the music video.
He also said that it would
be immature for Davido and his management to release inaccurate statements in
order to defame his brand. On October 21, 2013, the official music video for
the single was shot and directed in London by Moe Musa. It was uploaded onto
YouTube at a total length of 3 minutes and 56 seconds.
On February 2, 2014, Davido released "Aye" as the fourth single from the upcoming
album. The song was produced by T Spize. The music video for "Aye"
was released on February 7, 2014, and was directed by Clarence Peters.
According to the music video's synopsis, "Davido plays a poor farmer who
falls in love with the prince’s love interest. On April 30, 2014, HKN Music released
the upcoming album's fifth single "Tchelete (Goodlife)" featuring
South African duo Mafikizolo. The song,
which translates to "Money", was produced by Oskido and Shizzi. Upon its
release, the song was distributed by MTN's Play and Callertunez platforms. The
collaboration between Davido and Mafikizolo came about as a result of them
networking at MTN Nigeria's Elite Night event in December 2013. The music video
for the song was shot and directed in South Africa. It was uploaded onto
YouTube on May 1, 2014. Oskido and Uhuru made cameo appearances in the video.
In June 2014, Davido collaborated with Mi Casa, Lola Rae, Sarkodie, Diamond Platnumz and Tiwa Savage on a song for DSTV's
Africa Rising campaign, which was designed to inspire Africans to partake in
community-based social investment projects. The music video for the song,
released on June 24, 2014, was shot and directed by South African production
house Callback Dream. The
aforementioned artists performed the song at the Africa Rising launch ceremony
in Mauritius. In July 2014, Davido told The New Age newspaper that he
plans on collaborating with American rappers Rick Ross and Meek Mill.[54][55] In June 2015, Davido dropped his
long-awaited collaboration with Meek Mill titled "Fans Mi".
2017 to 2018 international fame
On November 30,2017 Davido won the best African act at the MOBO Awards and also became the first African act
to perform live at the awards.
On June 24, 2018, Davido became the first African-based
artist to have received his award on the BET Awards main stage. His award was presented by
Hollywood actor Omari Hardwick and
actress Tika Sumpter. In his
acceptance speech, he urged patrons and American artists to visit Africa and also enjoy the food.
Endorsements
On April 6, 2012, Nigerian Entertainment Today
reported that Davido signed a ₦30 million endorsement deal with MTN. The deal unveiled him as the face of MTN
Pulse, a marketing campaign for Nigerian youths.[58] On October 24, 2013, Pulse
reported that Guinness Nigeria signed Davido to an endorsement deal.[59] As part of the deal, Davido performed
at the Guinness World of More Concert alongside P-Square, D'banj, Wizkid, Ice Prince, Burna Boy, Olamide, Phyno,
Chidinma, Waje
and Tiwa Savage, among others.
Controversies
In May 2014, Davido attacked the Nigerian Immigration
Service (NIS) after missing his flight to London. He accused them of pestering him for
money. On May 11, 2014, the Public Relations Officer for the NIS denied
Davido's allegations and said that they didn't issue him an exit permit because
he didn't have the proper travel documents with him at the time.
In December 2015, the Vanguard
reported that Davido and his baby's mother, Sophia Momodu, were embroiled in a
fight over the custody of their daughter Imade Adeleke. The newspaper reported
that it all started after Sophie and her family filed a petition against Davido
and his family for alleged child trafficking. In a petition sent to the
Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in
Persons, Davido and his family were accused of keeping Imade away from her
mother, as well as trying to flee Nigeria with the baby. Davido has since
insisted that the allegations against him are false, but apologized to Dele Momodu, the cousin of Sophia Momodu.
Awards and nominations
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Davido
Discography
Studio albums
- Omo Baba Olowo (2012)
EPs
- Son of Mercy (2016)
Selected singles
Year
|
Title
|
Album
|
2011
|
"Back When" (featuring Naeto C)
|
Omo Baba Olowo
|
2012
|
"Ekuro"
|
|
"Overseas" (featuring
Sina Rambo)
|
||
"Gbon Gbon"
|
||
"All of You"
|
||
"Feel Alright"
(featuring Ice Prince)
|
||
2013
|
"One of a Kind"
|
NON-ALBUM SINGLE
|
"Gobe"
|
The Baddest
|
|
"Skelewu"
|
||
2014
|
"Aye"
|
|
"Tchelete (Goodlife)"(featuring
Mafikizolo)
|
||
2015
|
"Dodo"
|
|
"Fans Mi" (featuring Meek Mill)
|
||
"Owo Ni Koko"
|
||
"The Sound" (featuring
Uhuru & Dj Buckz)
|
||
"The Money" (featuring Olamide)
|
NON-SINGLE ALBUM
|
|
2016
|
"Gbagbe Oshi"
|
Son Of Mercy
|
"Maga To Mugu"
(featuring Simi)
|
||
2017
|
"If"
|
TBA
|
"Fall"
|
||
"Pere" (featuring Rae Sremmurd, Young Thug)
|
||
"Fia"
|
||
"Like Dat"
|
||
2018
|
"Assurance"
[65]
|
Non-album single
|
"Flora My Flawa"
|
||
"Nwa Baby"
|
Charmy Account Number Nedbank 1169212719 South-Africa
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