Davido- Keep soaring high; o le da e duro!
About Davido
Davido is such a heap of talent that cannot go unnoticed. His songs are making waves all over Nigeria and the world; he is no doubt the rave of the moment. Though he is young; his vibrant spirit, sheer determination and hard work have opened a great door of achievement unto him in his music career. The young chap has a flair for cars, clothes, tattoos, wristwatches and jewelries of good quality which is evident in all his music videos. Davido has a good eye for architectural structures too and possesses a beautiful and expensive house; he is most definitely living up the good life.
Davido was born in Atlanta on the 12th of November 1992 into the family of the Adelekes, though he was brought up in Lagos, Nigeria. His mum Dr. Vero Adeleke, was a university lecturer before her demise while his dad – Chief Deji Adeleke is an influential Nigerian business magnate. Davido is one of the few Nigerian musicians blessed with a successful business mogul as a father unlike some of his counter parts who had to struggle until they eventually got the needed breakthrough in their music career. His growing up would have been quite rosy, if not perfect; although he once posted a picture of himself drinking garri and groundnut on Facebook. At an early age of about 13, he was set for the music world, his recreation centered on music, though his dad at the initial stage didn’t support his sojourn into the music world.
Davido was part of several minor music groups and saw the need to explore the depths of music while in high school. He has always nurtured the dream of performing live. He attended the British International School in Lagos. He studied business administration at Oakwood University prior to relocating to Nigeria. He is a graduate of Babcock University in Ogun state.
His entrance into the music world was like a rocket. His first release was in 2012- ‘’back then’’ where he featured Naeto C. This was followed up by an exclusive hit “Dami duro”, which went viral within few days of its release. The song got all dancing and singing even on the road. It was even more popular than the national anthem and was well played in clubs, parties and various occasions. The video to the hit song “Dami duro” most definitely contributed to what shot him into limelight and gave him a smooth ride into the music world. He also remixed the song with Akon. Other songs in his debut album include ‘All of you’, ‘Overseas’ ft Sina Rambo, ‘Ekuro’, ‘Gbon gbon’ and ‘Feel alright’ ft Iceprince. After his successful first album, he has since then been churning out sizzling tracks that are pleasurable to the ears.
From his second album, he released ‘Gobe’, ‘One of a kind’, ‘Skelewu’, ‘Aye’- and they all received massive airplays. His song Gobe was ranked second on premium time’s list of the top ten songs of 2013. There were controversies surrounding the song, but that didn’t stop talented Davido. The audience was still feeling the song when he dropped Skelewu. Skelewu was d’ bomb; radios most played song as at the time it was released. Before the release of the video, Davido uploaded an instructional dance video on Youtube and asked fans to upload videos of themselves dancing to skelewu, promising a whooping sum of $3000 cash prize (480,000 Naira) for grabs for the lucky winner at the end of the competition. This caused a stampede with scores of people both whites and blacks trying to beat his dance moves and emerge the winner. On October 10, 2013, Davido declared Bello Moshood Abiola, the winner of the competition. Davido no doubt has a way of compensating his loyal fans.
His Aye video which captured a large number of Nigerians, surpassed 1 million views on Youtube within few days of its release. He did a track titled Tchelete with South African pop singers- Mafikizolo. He has done a collabo with D’prince- in the song “Gentleman”. He did with Meek MIll in the song “Fans mi”He also did a collabo with 9ce in the song “Living thing” and another with R Kelly in the song “If”; as a matter of fact, he has done a whole lot of collabos
He is also one of the few celebs who take out time from their busy schedule to show love to the children at the orphanage. He once visited the Gladesmore community school, Tottenham. He performed on stage and eventually gave out autographed promo CD’s to the students amongst other gifts. At the community school, the heap of talent advised the children to stay in school. “Education is the key,’’ Davido said. In April 2014, he celebrated Easter with kids at the orphanage. He played with them and also gave them gifts.
Davido is definitely one of the most generous musicians in Nigeria and Africa at large. He has overtime shown that he is not tight fisted. He once gave out One Million Naira to a cancer patient. He has given lots of food and cash ceaseless times to the needy; he keeps rewarding his fans in millions of Naira and leaving them with wide smiles. A popular Nigerian on air personality- Daddy Freeze once put up a challenge for people to help the poor with their tithe rather than giving their tithes to pastors, Davido was the first to signify interest in the challenge. He encourages the hustle of fellow Nigerians.
Davido has numerous awards attached to his name, has till date won a Kora award, Channel O music video awards, Headies awards, Nigeria Entertainment awards, Dynamix all youth awards, Future awards, MOBO awards, MTV Europe Music Awards. One of the most interesting awards was Headies most coveted award for the next rated category in the 2012 edition, where he went home smiling with a 2013 Hyundai car; he was placed alongside Eva Alordia, Praiz and Flowsick. In April, 2012, he signed an endorsement deal with MTN Nigeria and featured in several of their adverts.
In mid-2015 to early 2016, nothing much was heard from him neither was his songs really talked about, so the enemies thought it was over for him. But the ‘30 Billion’ in the account singer surprised all when he burst out again this 2017 with banging tunes that were playing non-stop in all radio and television stations. He came out with How long, My story, Baby mama, If (remix ft Rkelly), Touch, Ajaga, Like dat, Fall, Fia, Bom Bom, Pere.
He has however had his share of controversies. He once had a lingering dispute with the CEO of Ovation Dele Mamodu; his first baby mama- Sophie. Also, some months back, Davido was accused of having a hand in the mysterious death of his three friends (Tagbo, Dj Olu, Chime) within a week. He claimed innocent and said only God knew the truth surrounding the death of his friends. He however released a track titled FIA which revealed all he went through those periods.
Davido has overtime shown his competence in the music world and has proven that his stay is not for a short period. Unlike some other artistes who came out with a hit-single but are nowhere now, neither was their subsequent release up to standard. Signed to co-owned HKN records, SONY, RCA, DMW,Davido has no doubt become a household name.
He has indeed written his name in the sand of time. He has been active from 2011-present. He is not only a singer, but a terrific songwriter as well. Davido is here to stay. He is going nowhere; o le da duro mo!
Like other musicians, some of Davido’s familiar opening lines are, on the beat is Davido- Omo Baba Olowo. He is inspired by music legends like Psquare, 2face and Dbanj. One of his famous quote includes “ Behind the scenes of success is a lot of blood, sweat and tears”
To his family and friends, he is definitely one to be proud of.
ARTICLE WRITTEN BY OGEFASH’S STYL MEDIA HOUSE
These songs were played day in day out all through the year 2017. Agree or disagree? What are your top 7 most played Nigerian songs for year 2017? Kndly share with us…
