robertoluoch oluoch
April 20, 2019
You know him by Davido but his birth name is David Adedeji Adeleke. The Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer was born on November 23, 1992, in Atlanta, although he was raised in Lagos. He studied Business Administration at Oakwood University but later on dropped out to pursue his passion which is music. He made his first appearance in the music scene as a member of the KB International music group. He, later on, rose to fame in 2011 with the release of “Dami Duro” from his debut studio album “Omo Baba Olowo” (Okiche,2012). His style of music is mainly Afrobeat or Afropop.
Music Career
After dropping off from Oakwood University due to poor grades, Davido relocated to Nigeria and enrolled at Babcock University where he earned a music degree. He released his first studio album, ”Omo Baba Olowo” in 2012 which consists of seven singles namely; “Dami Duro”, “Back When”, “Ekuro”, “Overseas”, “All of You”, “Gbon Gbon” and “Feel Alright”. Since then he has released hit singles such as “Gobe”, “One of a Kind”, “Skelewu” and “Aye”. He has also worked with other acts such as; Mafikizolo on “Tchelete”, Dj Arafat on “Naughty”, Olamide on “Naughty” and Diamond on “Number one”. He has also worked with international acts such as Meek Mill on “Fans Mi”, Young Thug on “Pere” and Tinashe on “How Long”. Davido also collaborated with Mi Casa, Diamond Platnumz, Tiwa Savage, Sarkodie and Lola Rae on a song for DSTV’s African Rising campaign which was designed to inspire Africans to take part in community-based social investment projects.
In January 2016, he signed a record deal with Sony Music after which he founded his own record label, Davido Music Worldwide (Anazia,2016). He signed fellow artists Dremo and Mayorkun into the record label. In July 2016, he signed a record deal with Sony’s RCA Records (Akan,2016). He released the five-track EP, Son of Mercy, supported by singles “Gbagbe Oshi”, “How Long” and “Coolest Kid in Africa”. The EP includes special appearances from artists such as Simi, Tinashe and Nasty C. He explained to pulse Nigeria in April 2017 that he renegotiated his contract with Sony due to creative control issues. After reconstructing his contract in 2017, he released hit singles “If” and “Fall”. “If” became the longest charting Nigerian pop song in the history of Billboard while “Fall” attracted a huge YouTube viewing of over a hundred million (Durosomo,2019). Some of his other tracks such as “Aye” and “Fia” have over fifty million views. This is very rare in Africa since most African artists struggle to hit even five million views on YouTube.
Awards and Nominations
During his music career, Davido has received numerous awards such as; Kora Awards, BET Awards, Ben TV Awards, Dynamix All Youth Awards, African Muzik Magazine Awards, MTV Africa Music Awards, Channel O Music Awards, Nigeria Music Video Awards, Ghana Music Awards, City People Entertainment Awards, The Headies and Nigeria Entertainment Awards. Other awards that he was nominated for include; Soul Train Awards, The Future Africa Awards, MOBO Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, World Music Awards, 4Syte TV Music Video Awards and Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.
Endorsements
Davido has signed endorsement deals with various companies including; MTN, Guinness, and Infinix.
