DAVIDO HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT AVOIDING DRAMA ON NEW TRACK, “FIA”

IN LIGHT OF

RECENT

EVENTS,

DAVIDO HAS

SOMETHING

TO SAY ABOUT

AVOIDING

DRAMA ON

NEW TRACK,

“FIA”

Since the Nigerian Police acquitted
Davido from the investigation into the
death of Tagbo Umenike, the singer
has somewhat stayed off radar in a
sense of public appearance and
controversy. Even his appearance at
Heineken’s Lagos Fashion and Design
Week to unveil his collaboration with
Orange Culture was brief, as the
singer exited the Eko Atlantic venue
as soon as he took the runaway
alongside models donning cuts of his
“IF” capsule collection. Sources close
to the singer also corroborate this
new low-profile, which has in-part
been influenced by his on-going 30
Billion World Tour, but mostly the
need to stay off the media’s radar for
negative press.
There is nothing strange here, it is
customary for celebrities all over the
world try to keep and their heads low
after a major media storm, usually
with the aim of separating their public
life from their private one. For Davido
however, silence has never been his
game. Collaborations with
Humblesmith on “Osinachi ” remix and
Falz on “Bahd, Baddo, Baddest” , are
recent incursions of times Davido’s
personal agenda with Sophie Momodu
and Dele Momodu surfaced in his
music. Thus it is unsurprising that
following the media nightmare from
getting wrongfully placed at the
centre of an investigation, Davido
would release “FIA”, a song about
testing limits.
“FIA” is set on a mid-tempo neo-
highlife baseline that occasionally
gleans jazz inspirations with trumpets
and drum stops, a textural
combination that has made 2017
Davido’s year with “IF” and “Fall” .
Where “FIA” towers above all other
OBO releases from this year however
is in songwriting that manages to
reflects some of his recent personal
struggles, without directly dishing into
sensitive details. Such genuinely
emotive lyrics are rare in a genre
dominated by the urge to make
people dance, but it is a welcome
departure from the norm on what is
the third single from Davido’s
forthcoming major label debut album.
The central story of “FIA” is told from
the perspective of a Davido who is
starting to feel used and manipulated
at the realisation that his relationship
may be inherently materialistic. “But
You Say If You No Get Money Hide
Your Face/ I Hide My Face” Davido
sings, buttressing his claim on the
chorus where refuses to put himself
in a bad way for the sake of love.
Albeit in a different context, Davido
uses the second verse on “FIA”, to
subtly reference his arrest and
Caroline Danjuma’s role in fueling the
initial false narrative that he had a
role to play in the death of
Tagbo. “Caroline Save Your Drama” , he
says, as if to shove negative energy
away. This part of “FIA” is relational
to the synopsis of Davido’s real life
as an international African superstar,
with all of its own characters and
plot twists. You can hear him
affirming this much when he
adds, “You Don’t Need Me in Your
Soap Opera”.

Projecting his real life onto his music
has been one of Davido’s greatest
tools since his Omo Baba Olowo days.
In an era where artists seem to do
most of their honest talking through
temporary social media posts, it is at
least admirable for one of the genre’s
leading stars to consistently keep it
on wax.
After arguably his most
successful year since his debut,
trumped up charges, tragedy and the
Nigerian rumour mill threatened to
derail his career, but Davido
responded in the only way he knows
how: with a hit.

Davido headlines his first Lagos show
in five years this December.

Watch the video for “FIA” below, and
stream it via Apple Music here.