Davido

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Davido, in full David Adedeji Adeleke, was born in 1992 in Atlanta and grew up in Lagos. His father is a Nigerian businessman. At sixteen Davido went to the United States to study business administration, bought music equipment there and made beats. Together with his cousins he formed the group KB International. He dropped out of his studies, worked on his voice in London and began professionally in music in March 2011. Later he did go on to study music at Babcock University.

Music and breakthrough

His first album Omo Baba Olowo from 2011 mixes Afrobeats and hip hop. The single Dami Duro brought him fame. In 2016 he signed with Sony Music and RCA Records, founded his own label Davido Music Worldwide and released the EP Son of Mercy. The albums A Better Time in 2020, Timeless in 2023 and 5ive in 2025 followed. In 2019 New African magazine named him one of the hundred most influential Africans, and in 2021 he was on the Next List of the Time 100.

Influence

Davido's music stands for the new Nigerian pop music known as Afrobeats: danceable rhythms, singing in English and Yoruba and electronic beats with influences from hip hop and R&B. He is regarded as a cultural ambassador for Nigeria and speaks out on human rights in Africa. His songs show how popular music from Lagos is heard worldwide.

Listening

• 
  Fall · Davido, 2017
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 2012Omo Baba Lowo
• 2019A Good Time
• 2020A Better Time
• 2023Timeless
• 20255ive
• 2026Oriadé

Mentioned in other articles

• Afrobeats GenreWizkid, Davido and Burna Boy became global stars; Wizkid sang on Drake's One Dance (2016), and Burna Boy won a Grammy in 2021.

See also

• A Good Time