Davido Says African Music Is Changing How The World Sees Us

Davido, the 32-year-old Afrobeats star, believes that Nigerian culture is experiencing a global moment. In a recent interview with AFP in Paris, he highlighted how Nigerian film, food, and fashion are increasingly making waves internationally.

“We’re very popular, not only in music,”

While some critics argue that American artists are borrowing from Afrobeats, Davido expressed a positive stance, saying, “I like it.”

Despite his global reach and Nigerian-American heritage, Davido emphasizes that the future of Africa lies with those who stay in the continent, not just in its influential diaspora.

“Everybody always has the American dream,” he told AFP. “Every kid that grows up in Africa wants to visit America. That’s cool. It’s okay to visit, but don’t leave your people and go there.”

Davido, born David Adedeji Adeleke in Atlanta, represents the intersection of a rapidly growing Nigeria, home to over 200 million people, and a global stage that is finally starting to recognize the power and influence of the so-called “Giant of Africa.” Ahead of the release of his new album, 5ive, Davido confidently asserts that the record “is going to touch every part of the world.”

Speaking to AFP ahead of the release of his new album, “5ive”, he confidently says the record “is going to touch every part of the world”.

“We have music for the French people. We have music for the Caribbean people. We have music for the Americans, Africans, everybody,” he said.

“It’s like a full, global package album.”

– Eight million monthly listeners –

With over eight million monthly listeners, including high-profile fans like Britain’s King Charles, Davido is not only riding the wave of the global Afrobeats craze but is also helping to shape its direction. However, Davido himself is very much a product of African music, reflecting the roots and growth of the genre that has gained worldwide prominence in recent years.

“I grew up in an African household where we were always throwing parties, music was always playing in the house, going in the car to school, my parents playing music,” he enthusiastically recalled.

As a teenager, a cousin in the industry took him to a studio, where “for the first time, I saw somebody create music… African music.”

“That’s when I fell in love with it,” said Davido, spotting a grey conical woollen cap and jewellery dangling over a black T-shirt.

By the age of 16, Davido was already mixing and mastering his own tracks, drawing inspiration from influential Nigerian artists like P-Square, whose music blended African rhythms with American influences such as Michael Jackson. Now, as an established global artist, Davido observes a shift where the flow of musical influence is moving in the opposite direction, with Afrobeats increasingly making its mark on American and international music scenes.

“It’s a privilege for another culture to try to imitate what you’re doing,” he told AFP in response to a question about critics who accuse American artists of trying to mime Afrobeats’ style.

“In Nigeria we do hip hop too. We have rappers that rap. We have people that do R&B.”