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Davido shares how his father paid $200K to get him out of a contract
In a candid new interview with BET, Nigerian global superstar Davido opened up about a pivotal moment in his early music career—revealing that his billionaire father, Dr. Adedeji Adeleke, once refunded $200,000 to get him out of a record contract that could have derailed his journey.
The Afrobeats icon recounted that after the breakout success of his hit single “Dami Duro” at just 17 years old, he was approached with a record deal worth $200K. Though it seemed like a dream opportunity at the time, his father had other plans.
“My Dad found out someone gave me $200K for a contract, he called them, gave them back their money, and cancelled the contract,” Davido said.
At the time, Davido admitted he didn’t fully understand his father’s decision, especially as he felt he was being held back financially despite being the son of a billionaire.
“He didn’t want me to owe anybody,” Davido added.
“But I was feeling like, ‘You’re a whole billionaire and you don’t want to give me money,’ so I had to go find my way.”
With hindsight, Davido now sees the wisdom in his father’s actions.
“Thank God he did, because I would have just been getting off the contract like two years ago,” he admitted.
This early career episode was also confirmed by businessman Tosin Ashafa, one of the original investors, who took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his side of the story, backing up Davido’s version of events.
In the same interview, when asked to choose between his two major global tours—‘A Good Time’ and ‘Timeless’—Davido didn’t hesitate.
“Timeless tour. Sold out arenas. It was a landmark moment,” he said.