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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Nigerian singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has explained the reason behind his signing artists regularly.
Davido owns one of the biggest record labels in Nigeria, Davido Music Worldwide (DMW), which gives him better leverage and economics in deals and develops upcoming local artists.
Speaking with Forbes during a recent pan-continental press tour to promote his fourth album, Davido said he does not sign artists to make money, but to see them grow.
“My career has been so blessed. I haven’t been like signing artists because I want to make money from them, I just like to see them grow and know I was part of the success.
“I can remember when it wasn’t cool to be from Africa. People would lie and say they were Jamaica, now we have our own Billboard charts in the US and UK. That shows how serious the Western world is taking our music,” he said.
Davido was born in Atlanta to Nigerian parents, but grew up in Lagos.
Speaking on how he started his music career, Davido said his cousin owned a music studio, and after recording a song one afternoon, he was hooked.
“I hid it from my family. The normal thing was to go to school, graduate and then work for my dad,” he said.
At the age of 15, he enrolled in Oakwood University, a historically black school in Huntsville, Alabama, before dropping out to focus on music.
In today’s frictionless, borderless digital media landscape, Davido and other Afro stars like WizKid, Burna Boy, Tems and Rema are reaching millions of new fans and lucrative markets. Streams of Afrobeats music on Spotify surged nearly 300% between 2019 and 2022.
Davido’s management team predicts he’ll earn more than $20 million in 2023 from royalties, touring, merch sales and endorsements.
