Outside the Conrad hotel in downtown Washington DC, a high-end stay outfitted in tasteful neutral tones, a mass of men with deep skin stood congregated around an SUV, bantering in what sounded like West African Pidgin English. Meanwhile, in the lobby, the language filled the air as another pocket of men loudly and playfully debated who would call the next Uber. They are Davido\u2019s entourage, associates of one of Afropop\u2019s biggest and most beloved acts, all in DC to support his set at Pharrell\u2019s Something in the Water Festival. Upstairs, through a maze of elevators and hallways was a neat and smokey suite where Davido, born David Adedeji Adeleke, beckoned me to take a seat near him on the plush, stone-colored couch. \u201cFeel comfortable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At just 29, he\u2019s something of a veteran performer, having broken through in Africa as a teen with his hit single \u201cDami Duro\u201d in 2011, from his debut album, Omo Baba Olowo (Yoruba for \u201cson of a rich man,\u201d which he is). Davido\u2019s sophomore album, 2019\u2019s A Good Time, has earned over a billion streams, and he was joined by stars Nicki Minaj, Nas, Lil Baby, and Young Thug on the 2020 follow-up, A Better Time. When we met, he was just a few hours removed from landing in D.C. after a run of three consecutive shows on a North American tour.<\/p>\n
Two thick Cuban links guarded his chest, and four chunky, iced-out rings, one of a large dollar sign and another, a sort of class ring representing his crew 30BG. He lounged in a breezy, purple and yellow two-piece by Nigerian-American designer Niyi Okuboyejo\u2019s Post-Imperial. On this tour run, Davido decided to wear nothing but African designers for his performances and appearances, like the Forty Seven fits he wore on stage in New York and Toronto, or the bejeweled Emmy Kasbit button-down he donned on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally, I be putting in a big budget \u2014 It could be thousands, hundreds, crazy on clothes. So this year I was like, \u2018Yo, why are we celebrating African music and wearing western clothes? Might as well do the whole package. Let\u2019s give people opportunities.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Davido\u2019s music is ubiquitous among Afrobeats listeners, with his biggest hits, like 2017\u2019s \u201cFall,\u201d reliably in rotation at functions after amassing well over 300 million streams between Spotify and YouTube alone. His music soon made its impact in the states, where he was born and spent time growing up, though he was raised primarily in Nigeria. In 2014, he held his first U.S. show at a warehouse in Brooklyn, as Osita Ugeh, CEO of the premiere Afropop touring company, Duke Concept, explained. \u201cIt was sold out to the point where we had more people outside than inside, and it was shut down because the fire marshal could not have that number of people trying to get into one place,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
Now, his shows are at much larger venues, though fans still might have trouble making it inside. His show at London\u2019s famous O2 arena this past March quickly sold out, the second such occurrence for the musician. I asked whether the recent spate of shows left him feeling energized or depleted. \u201cI missed performing a lot, so I can\u2019t really complain and say, \u2018It\u2019s tiring.\u2019 It\u2019s really not tiring, but it\u2019s a lot of energy getting on stage,\u201d he said. Davido\u2019s nearly two-hour set \u2014 accompanied by a ten-piece band of two drummers, a pair of keyboardists, a wind section, and background vocalists \u2014 would do a number on his body each night.<\/p>\n
The tour was titled \u2018We Rise by Lifting Others,\u2019 and was inspired by the spirit of giving he said his parents instilled in him. His father, Adedeji Adeleke, is a renowned businessman, founding and leading a company with real estate, banking, and oil investments. His late mother, Veronica Adeleke, was a lecturer at Babcock University in southwestern Nigeria. The college\u2019s School of Social Sciences bears her name.<\/p>\n
From their guidance comes Davido\u2019s grand acts of giving, like when he crowdsourced over $600,000 for his 29th birthday, pledged it to orphanages across Nigeria, and shared a record of the donations. Then, there\u2019s the people close to him for whom he\u2019s created opportunities through his label, Davido Music Worldwide. \u201cI got famous. I put my cousins on. I put my friends on,\u201d he said. Then, there\u2019s the way he tries to carry himself \u2014 humble and kind, even on his worst days.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I might not be the happiest. You might see me on the road [and, still] I\u2019ll try to smile, because at the end of the day, that\u2019s my job. My job is to entertain. My music makes people happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Davido also knows tragedy. After losing his mother at about ten years old, Davido had shown resilience in the face of death, but was especially tested when his close friend Habeeb Uthman passed last June. Uthman, widely and affectionately known as \u201cObama\u201d and \u201c44,\u201d reportedly died after driving himself to the hospital while experiencing difficulty breathing. \u201cAll my life it\u2019s been \u2018David you\u2019re strong, David you\u2019re strong.\u2019 44 I won\u2019t lie to you, this time around, this one WEAK ME!!\u201d Davido wrote in a pained and sprawling Instagram post a week after his confidant\u2019s death. Within the same year, he lost a security guard and then a rising photographer (\u201c[He] drowned trying to get a shot. He was on a photo shoot with somebody,\u201d Davido explained). He said that writing his May single, \u201cStand Strong,\u201d helped him cope with the losses. \u201cMy steps are guided by Jehovah,\u201d he sings. \u201cAnd 44 looking over.\u201d<\/p>\n
A gorgeous and peaceful hymn marrying African percussion with the sweet harmonies of the Sunday Service Choir, which rose to prominence performing with Kanye West, \u201cStand Strong\u201d introduced the era of Davido\u2019s next album, a project he told me was basically complete (\u201cA lot of bangers on there.\u201d) He described some selections on the album as \u201cTypical Davido music,\u201d which one could deduce is a mix of light-hearted love songs and pulsing dance records. He also pushed himself to sample new sounds, like the gospel of \u201cStand Strong.\u201d He said the project is expansive but united in its African inspirations. \u201cAfrobeats is on the world stage right now. \u200b\u200bWe\u2019re trying to tap into every type of music, but predominantly African music.\u201d The growing reach of African music is undeniable. Even the Midtown Atlanta coworking space from which I wrote this profile queues up hours of Afrobeats tracks for its diverse membership \u2014 including \u201cHigh,\u201d a recent party-starter from Davido and Adekunle Gold.<\/p>\n
He said the album will likely feature more marquee American acts, as well as African up-and-comers. In his career, he\u2019s made a point to collaborate with burgeoning acts from the continent. His video for \u201cLa La\u201d \u2014 a song that featured CKay well before his global breakthrough with \u201cLove Nwantiti\u201d \u2014 also stars a cast of newer Nigerian musicians, such as Joeboy, Oxlade, and Blaqbonez. \u201cYou can\u2019t just come and say, \u2018Oh, I want to make a song with this guy because he\u2019s going to get a million views in one day,\u2019\u201d he explained. \u201cI don\u2019t work like that. I work based on vibes. If I like the record, I\u2019m probably going to do it. And that\u2019s how me and CKay linked up, because I love his sound, and then he ended up having the biggest Afrobeats record ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though African music is hot internationally, Davido has found that African musicians should take care to secure a base in Africa. \u201cI always tell artists, \u2018Always have that home love first. Then, you could take over the world,\u2019\u201d he said, explaining that having the backing of a plentiful and fervent fandom there can make artists in the crowded field of professional entertainers stand out. He mainly recorded his next album in Lagos, where he, naturally, feels most tapped into Nigeria\u2019s ever-evolving musical and cultural landscape. \u201cI get more creative when I\u2019m home,\u201d he said. \u201cJust even having [my] boys around. It was like, \u2018What\u2019s going on in town? What are the new slangs? What\u2019s going on? I\u2019ve been away for three months. Update me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
During one stint in Lagos, Davido invited his friend, oft-embroiled rapper DaBaby, to shoot a music video for their recently released collaboration \u201cShowing Off Her Body.\u201d Their friendship, Davido said, developed after DaBaby hit him up to work a year or two ago. \u201cWhen he came out, people used to always compare us,\u201d Davido said of DaBaby. \u201cIt was the energy, the eyes. And then funny enough, everybody around DaBaby is African. Everybody,\u201d he said, explaining that most of DaBaby\u2019s close friends are from Charlotte, but also Nigerian.<\/p>\n
He said he and DaBaby bonded over their sense of vision for themselves and their careers. \u201cI like his work ethic,\u201d Davido said. \u201cI just see a lot of myself in him; the way he carries people along as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Davido didn\u2019t turn a blind eye to his controversies, like his infamous offensive spiel at Rolling Loud Miami in 2021.\u201cI spoke to him about it too,\u201d Davido told me. \u201cI\u2019ve been in situations where I\u2019ve said the wrong things and then really understand what I said like two days later. I feel like everybody makes mistakes. I\u2019m not approving or saying what he said was right, but I know sometimes being on stage, you might get carried away. We did speak about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you don\u2019t think that is reflective of his character?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally don\u2019t, because I know him personally. I haven\u2019t seen him being violent or stuff like that. Sometimes I do see it online, but exactly what I was telling you \u2014 everybody\u2019s human and people go through stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked Davido when he\u2019s found it difficult to live by his mantra of lifting others. He said he\u2019s had to work to balance providing for his associates with providing for his three kids. \u201cI\u2019ve had friends that [I\u2019ve] gone all out for and maybe I can\u2019t do as much as I used to do before\u2014reason being, I got children, bro,\u201d said Davido. He implies that people may take his aid for granted: \u201cI can understand where you do so much for some people, and then after a while, they forget\u2026But I can\u2019t use that to punish the rest of the people that I still want to help grow, so I don\u2019t look at it as much of a problem,\u201d he conceded.<\/p>\n
In the midst of his giving, he\u2019s got his own dreams to finance. He wants to write a children\u2019s book featuring his children, something like a \u201cAfricanized\u201d Dr. Seuss story. He\u2019s working on a documentary on his life now and hopes to make a biopic too, something covering life before and after fame: \u201cIt\u2019ll probably be a little pre, and have \u201910 years later\u2019 type stuff. Something like that. Still thinking.\u201d A bit like his father, he\u2019s thinking of expanding his empire. \u201cI want to own a big media house: shoot movies, documentaries, game shows, cooking shows, reality TV.\u201d<\/p>\n
On \u201cStand Strong,\u201d he bellows, \u201cThat\u2019s the reason why they call me Davido,\u201d likening himself to the biblical sovereign who defeated a giant and defended the Israelites. \u201cIf you read the story of David in the Bible, he overcame a lot. He wasn\u2019t really projected to be a king, and that\u2019s really how my life story has been. I\u2019m the last born of five kids. I wasn\u2019t the best. I didn\u2019t have the best grades. I wasn\u2019t projected to be successful in high school,\u201d Davido said to me. \u201cMy whole life has just been me shocking the world, me shocking people, God blessing me. It\u2019s been a lot of grace in my story.\u201d And so, he tries to give that grace to others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Davido has sat at the top of Nigerian pop for years. As he prepares his new album, he\u2019s thinking of who he can lift up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":12532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31],"tags":[7,14,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-12535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-music","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"yoast_head":"\n