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Nigerian singer David Adeleke aka Davido is gearing up for the release of A Better Time album and the music star has already started press rounds to boost promotion for the much-anticipated project. In a recent New York Times article, Davido opened up to journalist, Jon Pareles, about the success of the lead single off the album, FEM, among other things.
Recall that FEM had become the go-to song for #ENDSARS protesters across the country who were fighting against continued police brutality targeted against youths of the nation.
According to the singer, FEM was entirely about a different topic. In literal terms, the lyrics of the song simply urged a person who talks too much to keep quiet. During the protests, there were instances when the song blared loudly as government, police officials made attempts to engage the protesters.
An excerpt from the article read: “The lyrics, mixing English and Yoruba, boast about Davido’s success and taunt those who envy him: ‘Before the whole matter gets dangerous/You need to make sure you don’t say too much.’ Protesters have sung “Fem” in the faces of police and government officials.” On getting a collaboration with international rapper, Nicki Minaj, for one of the songs that made the album, Davido told Pareles that he simply texted the female rap star on Instagram on a particular night after getting drunk at a club.
To his surprise, the rapper responded to his message and in two days she sent in her verse for their collaboration, Holy Ground.
Davido was quoted to have said:
“I’m like, ‘Hello, Nicki, I’m a big fan. I got a hit for us.’ She says, ‘Send it.’ I’m like, what? And then I send it. And two days later she sent it back. That’s exactly what happened: no label in between, no mutual friend, nothing like that. It was just plain magic.”
The singer also expressed worry about the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on his soon-to-be-released project.
“I’m not even sure if I’m going to be able to perform in the near future — and I’ve got all these banging records, It’s taking a toll on me.”
In a related story about the singer, it was reported that he was a guest at Ndani TV’s studio in Lagos and he had an interesting chat with talk show host, Bolanle Olukanni.
Addressing the issue of getting snubbed by his colleague and rumored rival, Wizkid, Davido said he never expected to be acknowledged when he made a congratulatory post on the release of Made in Lagos. Davido said he was not thinking when he shared the post on his social media.
