How N20m endorsement took Davido’s career to next level

David ‘Davido’ Adeleke has risen to become one of Africa’s biggest musical exports.

With his fourth studio album, ‘Timeless,’ which peaked at number 2 on the World Album charts, Davido has continued on a success streak with his career.

He has continued to sell out various venues across the world including the O2 Arena in London, performing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, earning billions of streams across multiple platforms and collaborating with some of the world’s biggest artistes.

However, Davido didn’t just become a success overnight, his dedication to the craft and hard work from the get-go paved the way for eventual success in life.

Though his reputation as Omo Baba Olowo (son of a rich man), has never been in question, but even the filthy rich have been known to enjoy a financial boost from time to time.

Reminiscing on his days of humble beginning, the Afro-pop star revealed he received his big boost as a teenager when telecommunications giant, MTN came calling with a N20 million naira endorsement deal.

“I remember when MTN, a telecommunication company, came, and they were like they wanted to do an endorsement, but then he (dad) was like how much, and I said N20 million. I was like I’m 17-years-old. Nobody had seen that kind of money in the industry at that age. Wow, this is from music, and it’s off like two songs, of course.”

Davido further explained that the deal came at the right time as it proved to be the incentive needed to convince his multi-billionaire father, Dr Adedeji Adeleke of the potential in the music business.

“I’m like, ‘Daddy see, we can do this’. “He built me a studio and gave me some money to run my stuff and did my first album, and it came out really really successful.”

Davido was the face of MTN Pulse between 2012 and 2016 and during the time he reigned as the brand’s ambassador, he released songs that include Damiduro, Skelewu, and Gobe to mention a few whilst picking up a number of awards along the way.