Davido, born David Adedeji Adeleke, first appeared on the music industry in 2011. Since then, he has established himself as one of Africa’s and the world’s top Afrobeats singers. His tracks have topped music charts in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Davido has four studio albums, has played in world-famous locations such as New York’s Irving Plaza, and has been on high-rated TV series such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He has an astonishing 30 million followers on social media, mainly Tik Tok and Instagram.
His rise was fueled by the rising impact of the West African music genre Afrobeats, which is popular among Nigerian and Ghanaian singers. The style combines jazz, driving drumming, reggae, pop, and hip-hop.
“I can remember when it wasn’t cool to be from Africa—people would lie and say they were Jamaican,” Davido told Forbes. “Now we have our own Billboard charts in the US and UK—that shows how serious the Western world is taking our music.”
According to Forbes, Afrobeats are propelling Africa’s music industry, with the region’s music income increasing 34% to $94 million. Furthermore, Africa surpassed mature markets such as the United States (5%), Europe (7.5%), and Asia (15%) to become the world’s fastest-growing music area.
“The global music industry is investing in artists and producers from Africa and authentically leaning into what people are listening to,” said J.J. Italiano, Spotify’s head of global hits, to Forbes. “It’s a truly global sound, and the industry is responding to it in a way that’s super cool and encouraging.”
According to Forbes, Davido’s albums have been streamed over two (2) billion times. His most recent album, Timeless, has been streamed over 133 million times since its release in March, and it debuted at number two on Billboard’s World Album chart.
According to Davido’s management, he might make more than $20 million in royalties, touring, merchandise sales, and sponsorships by 2023. He has sponsorship relationships with Pernod Ricard’s Martell Cognac, Infinix Mobile, and Puma. He is also the driving force behind the musical company Davido Music Worldwide.
Davido grew up in Lagos after being born in Atlanta to Nigerian parents. Pacific Holdings Limited was created by his father, Adedeji Adeleke. It was founded in 1983 and has since developed into an industrial behemoth whose power facilities supply the majority of West Africa’s electricity.
Musicians such as 50 Cent and JaRule motivated Davido to pursue a career in music. He withdrew out of Oakwood University, a historically Black college in Huntsville, Alabama, to pursue music full-time.
He rose to prominence with his first album, Dami Duro, before releasing Omo Baba Olowo, which had a few singles and collaborations with other musicians. In 2019, he published A Good Time, followed by A Better Time in 2020.
