LAGOS (Sundiata Post) – Davido, the award-winning singer, has opened up about the intense criticism he faces in Nigeria due to his wealthy background. In a recent conversation on the Culture Knock Out podcast, he shared how his career might have been affected if his affluent upbringing had been publicly known sooner.
He explained that by the time people discovered his father’s wealth, he had already made his mark with several hit songs, which helped lessen the potential backlash.
“I’m the biggest criticised artist in Nigeria. I mean, I’m on fire and I’ve been on fire for a while,” he said. “In the beginning, they didn’t know that my dad was rich. So the stigma of a rich kid doing music didn’t end up as crazy as it should have been for me.”
“People didn’t know my father was rich. It was too late, I already did three hit songs before they found out that my dad had money…” he continued.
Despite his privileged background, Davido stressed that his passion for music was unwavering and that he would have pursued it regardless of the circumstances.
“But I just wanted to do music. I didn’t care if I had to become homeless. At that point, that was all I wanted to do. Nothing would stop me,” he said.
Although he faced growing criticism because of his father’s wealth, Davido remained focused on his career and continued to produce successful music.
“Over time, people started hating me because my dad is rich. But I keep on dropping good music, and it keeps working out,” he noted.
He also compared fame to politics, acknowledging that once you reach the top, scrutiny is inevitable.
“It happens to everyone, once you become the biggest in anything, you will get criticised. You are doing an election, people love you and they vote for you. But when you become president, they hate you,” he concluded.
