BACKGROUND
Nigerian-American singer, songwriter, and record producer, David Adedeji, better known by his stage name Davido, was born on November 21, 1992, in Atlanta, Georgia. His music combines conventional African themes with contemporary global pop. He focuses on Afrobeat, Afropop, pop, and electro-pop. Ayodeji has been active in the music industry since 2009 and is associated with DMW, HKN, RCA, and Sony Music Africa record labels.
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EARLY LIFE
The thirty-year-old singer is the youngest of five children and the second son born to his father, Adedeji Adeleke, who is a business tycoon. Vero Adeleke, his mother, is a former university professor. David attended the British International School in Lagos, Nigeria and at age 16, he relocated back to the United States to attend Oakwood University in Alabama to pursue a degree in business administration. He relocated to London to work on his vocals after dropping out of Oakwood University to focus solely on music.
MUSIC CAREER
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Davido’s music career can be traced back to year 2009 when he was a student at Oakwood. He purchased musical instruments and began to produce beats. In order to create the musical group KB International, he collaborated with his cousins B-Red and Sina Rambo. When Davido returned to Nigeria in 2011, he decided to put his singing career on hold and enroll at Babcock University in honor of his father. His father financed Babcock to establish a music department for an inaugural class of just one student, and he received a degree in music from Babcock in July 2015.
SONGS AND AWARDS
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OMO BABA OLOWO
Davido’s first studio album, Omo Baba Olowo, was released in 2011. The music on the album is a mix of hip hop and Afrobeats. Davido made the album with the help of Jay Sleek, Maleek Berry, GospelOnDeBeatz, Spellz, Dokta Frabz, Mr. Chidoo, Theory Soundz, and Shizzi. Naeto C, Sina Rambo, B-Red, Kayswitch, Ice Prince, and 2 Face Idibia all make guest appearances on Omo Baba Olowo. Music critics mostly did not like it. They did not like the lyrics or the way Davido wrote the songs. Nevertheless, the album won Best R&B/Pop Album at The Headies 2013 and was nominated for Album of the Year. At the 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards, it was also up for Best Album of the Year. The album had six single tracks all together. They include; Back When featuring Naeto C, Dami Duro, featuring Shizzi, Ekuro directed by Antwan Smith, Overseas, and All of You.
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GOBE
Davido’s song “Gobe,” which was made by Shizzi, came out on February 25, 2013. It was number two on the list of the top 10 songs of 2013 by Premium Times. Charles Mgbolu wrote in a review for the Vanguard newspaper that the song “oozes fun from start to finish.” Godfather Productions made the music video for “Gobe” in South Africa.
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ONE OF A KIND
The single hit, “One of a Kind” which was also produced by Shizzy came out on May 13, 2013. Tebza of Godfather Productions recorded and directed the video in South Africa. It shows a united Africa with a lot of music and culture.
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SKELEWU
On August 13, 2013, “Skelewu” came out. It was fifth on the list of the top 10 songs of 2013 by Premium Times. On August 18, 2013, Davido promoted “Skelewu” by putting a dance tutorial video on YouTube that was made by Jassy Generation. A “Skelewu” dance competition was announced at the same time the video came out. “Skelewu” had two music videos to back it up. Sesan made the first music video, which came out on October 15, 2013 while Moe Musa made and recorded the official music video for “Skelewu” in London. It came out in October 2013.
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AYE
Davido put out “Aye” on February 1, 2014. T-Spiz was the one who made the track. Clarence Peters made the video for the song, which came out on February 7, 2014.
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TCHELETE (GOODLIFE)
This was a song Davido made with the South African duo Mafikizolo. Itcame out on April 30, 2014. It was made by Oskido and Shizzi, and MTN’s Play and Callertunez platforms helped spread it. Twenty Twenty Media made the music video for “Tchelete (Goodlife)” Oskido and Uhuru were also featured in the video.
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SON OF MERCY
Davido’s five-track EP “Son of Mercy”, which included the singles “Gbagbe Oshi,” “How Long,” and “Coolest Kid in Africa,” was released in October 2016. Simi, Tinashe, and Nasty C made appearances on the EP as guests.
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IF
On February 17, 2017, he released “If.” Tekno, who penned the song as a ghostwriter for Davido, produced it. The song received a diamond certification from the Recording Industry of South Africa, which signifies shipments of 200,000 copies. “If” was named Song of the Year and Best Pop Single at the 2018 Headies. Director Q and Tunde Babalola produced the music video for “If,” which was filmed in London.
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FALL
It was released on June 2nd, 2017. The song used a phrase from the song “Dun Talking” by Kojo Funds as a sample.”Fall” was one of the top 100 most Shazam-searched singles in America in January 2019, was certified platinum by the Recording Industry of South Africa, and was a top-10 record in New York. It surpassed all previous Nigerian pop songs on the Billboard charts in February 2019. On Pitchfork’s selection of the 200 Best Songs of the 2010s, “Fall” came in at number 163. British video director Daps, created the music video for the song. The video crossed 100 million views in December 2018, becoming the most-watched video by a Nigerian artist on YouTube that year.
OTHER SONGS
Fia, Assurance, Blow My Mind, Risky, A Good Time (second album), FEM, A Better Time (third album), and stand strong were songs released by the Nigerian star from year 2018 to tear 2022.
NET WORTH
According to reports from different sources, Davido has a $50 million net worth. Just from his career as a musician, he has made about $50 million. In addition, he is a well-known figure on the African be continent and was given a significant contract by MTN Communication to serve as their brand ambassador which is reported to worth about $30 million. He has also earned nearly $3 million as a record producer in addition to that. He is regarded as one of his generation’s most productive record producers. In Nigeria alone, he has released over 110 albums through his production company.
RELATIONSHIP
David is currently engaged to Chioma who is also a mother to his child. However, the Nigerian artist has three other children with different women.
