Davido goes on American press tour

The Atlanta-born star recently announced that his team has started to court the American market, a decision supposedly spurred by a pronounced spike in the popularity of his 2017 track 'Fall' in the US.

The popularity was noticed by the music publication Rolling Stone. A reporter commented on ‘Fall’ showing up on Shazam in the US and declared that “eliciting that level of interest in America is no small feat for an African singer”.

Recently, Davido showed up on a show hosted by DJ Self, an American media personality. “I didn’t know if America is ready for it,” DJ Self said about African pop music, before adding that he feels that the genre "just broke through”.

Davido responded by talking about his journey to US radio. “I didn’t want to be about this American dream,” he said about his deal with RCA, which failed to break his music in the US. A year-and-a-half after he decided to leave for Nigeria, he began to receive calls.

The new strategy seems to have paid off. On Tuesday, he told his followers about his chart success. “My US radio/press run just starts this week and we already have two records in the top 40 urban radio charts,” he tweeted. “Only up from here !! We are about to break!”

The two songs he referred to are Casanova’s ‘2AM’, which placed 34 and has a Davido verse, and ‘Fall’, which moved two places up to 25 on Billboard’s Global Chart.

In perhaps a related development, Davido has been nominated for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. He shared the news yesterday: "Feels good to be nominated alongside the Greats!! Make una no jonze oo we fit win oooo!! [Translation: Don't be left out. We could win]. Vote for me as Favorite Global Star at the @nickelodeon Kids choice Awards 2019. AFRICA LETS TAKE THIS ONE!"

A remix of ‘Fall’ featuring Busta Rhymes and Prayah was released online recently. Supposedly recorded to promote the song on American radio, it has now been taken down by YouTube under a directive from Sony Music. The original video, which at over 110 million views, holds the record for the most viewed music video by a Nigerian artist, remains online.

Watch it below: