Life & Work

Nigerian superstar Davido set to rock Kenyans Saturday

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Davido performs ‘Aye’, one of his popular songs, in Kigali. PHOTO | FILE

The excitement among music fans ahead of this weekend’s performance by one of the biggest new stars of African pop music reflects the current dominance of Nigerian music.

The Afro beats Festival at the Carnivore Grounds tomorrow will be headlined by young Nigerian star, Davido, winner of multiple awards in the last one year including BET Best African Act and MTV Africa Best Artist 2014. His songs including “Skelewu,” “Aye” and “Owo ni Koko” have become anthems on dance floors across African cities and the Diaspora.

Afro Beat

There has been a resurgence of Nigerian music in a way that is reminiscent of the dominance that icons like Fela Kuti, the pioneer of Afro beat, King Sunny Ade, King of Juju music and Prince Nico Mbarga composer of the classic “Sweet mother”, had on African music in the 1970s and 1980s.

Nigeria has always been a major cultural influence on Africa and the rest of the world, whether through its music or the films churned out of its Nollywood industry.

Since the death of Fela in 1997, the mantle has been carried by his sons, Seun and Femi, who both play a brand of their father’s Afro beat grounded on radical political and social messages.

However, the identity of the new generation of Nigerian performer very different from Fela confrontational posture. Instead, these 20-something-year-olds are unashamedly flamboyant with a reputation for jet set lifestyles shown off in the expensive music videos shot in various world cities.

The only fleeting similarity to Fela is in the name given to the music, Afro beats, with the plural added to distinguish it from the older brand.

17 million viewers

While this generation of Nigerian pop is widely known as Afro beats, Davido now prefers to call his style Afro house.

Performers like D’Banj, P Square and Davido have become international superstars, thanks to clever marketing especially on the Internet and support from the huge Nigerian Diaspora.

Google named Davido the most searched Nigerian artist in 2014 and the video for the song “Aye” was the most watched Nigerian music video in 2014 with 17 million views so far on YouTube.

However, to attribute the current wave of Nigerian music success purely to numbers would be to ignore the quality of their music, which is contemporary and edgy but still retains strong elements of highlife and other cultural West African folk rhythms.

Atlanta

Davido, who performs at the Carnivore tomorrow, Saturday, is the poster boy of the new Nigerian superstar. Born in Atlanta, Georgia in the U.S as David Adedeji Adeleke, this son of billionaire businessman Dr Deji Adeleke, was raised in Lagos, Nigeria and first became involved in music at the age of 13.

His first album “Omo Baba Olowo” (Son of a rich man in Yoruba) Genesis was released in 2012 and was nominated for Album of the Year at the annual Nigerian music awards, the Headies.

He has used his star power to record pan-Africa collaborations with various African stars like South Africa’s Mafikizolo and Tanzanian star Diamond. He also runs his own stable of Nigerian artistes under his production company, HKN Music

However, the release of his second album that was anticipated last year was put off to an undisclosed date in 2015. At only 22, he has since eclipsed his compatriots like D’Banj and P Square to become easily the most in-demand artist across Africa at the moment.

Since the start of the year, he has already performed in Ethiopia, Cameroon and Malawi and arrived in Nairobi this week from a recording session in the U.S.

Last year, the young star completed his studies and graduated with a Business Administration degree from Babcock University in Ogun State, Nigeria, the institution where his mother taught until her death in 2003.

Brand ambassador

With his superstar status and large following, Davido is an advertiser’s dream with major companies falling over themselves to get his signature.

He is currently a brand ambassador for the telecommunications giant MTN in a deal signed in 2012 for a reported 30 million naira (Sh13.8 million.) The following year, he and other Nigerian stars entered into a concert agreement called “World of More” with Guinness and in November 2014 he signed a multi million Naira endorsement deal with Close Up toothpaste.

Davido is the star performer at tomorrow’s Afro Beats Festival at the Carnivore Grounds from 6pm. Advance tickets are available online at ticketsasa.com for Sh8,000 VIP and Sh4,000 for the Golden Circle.