Our song of the week!
Davido, OBO, Baddest, whatever you want to call him, has been in the news for all the right reasons recently. In the buildup to his 29th birthday celebration, the DMW boss randomly tweeted his account number and got fans and fellow celebrities to send him money, raising Two hundred million Naira in just a couple of days. After speculation on the internet on what he was going to do with the large sum - and maybe even more annoying, whether he had the moral right to spend it however he pleased, he put all of the noise to bed by announcing that he’ll be donating the cash to charity. Personally, I think it was a great choice to not announce his intentions until he had received the cash because - hm, I might be wrong but I honestly doubt that all the people who sent him money would have done so if they knew the cash was going to be donated to orphans. I just feel they wanted to sponsor one or two bottles of Azul for OBO. But - I don’t know, that’s just me.
Intentions aside, Davido is a one-man PR machine, and this donation saga that had the internet in a chokehold is something he has used to great advantage for his latest single “Champion Sound.” Although only released only a few days ago, the single has been hot in the clubs and websites dedicated to pirating music for a while now, with DJs repeatedly slipping it into their sets. It’s easy to understand why - asides from Jollof rice, “Essence” and “Love Nwantiti”, Amapiano is probably the hottest thing out of Africa at the moment. Also, a combination of Davido and Focalistic is obviously cash money after the success of their previous collaborative efforts on “Ke Star Remix.”
The art for the single depicts Davido and Focalistic receiving a trophy amidst a burst of confetti with the Nigerian and South African flags in the background. They are champions, and this anthem is the sound of champions. This attitude is evident on the track, with both artists channelling their charisma and extolling their qualities as superstars. Davido pointedly belts: “Ten years I’ve never gone down” - a statement that brings to the fore his incredible longevity from his early days on the music scene to dominating as one of Nigeria’s “Big 3”. Focalistic has one of the hardest signature tags on the continent, and his vibes and energy are nothing less than that of a champion.
In the context of his peers, Davido has had a rather quiet year as a lead artist, limiting himself to feature appearances throughout 2021. For fans of the artist, it is perhaps a bit sad that he, one of the biggest stars on the continent, did not have a major say in what has turned out to be a milestone year for Nigerian and African music. But, OBO has nothing to prove to anybody, and “Champion Sound” is a solid reminder of that. Despite the call for a bigger presence on the international stage, he has remained true to his ethos: making music for his core fanbase, those at home. Through it all, he has remained a champion of the people.
