Afrobeats star David Adeleke, famously known as Davido, opines that he faces more criticism than any other Nigerian celebrity, largely because of his privileged upbringing.
According to him, the label of being a “rich kid” could have derailed his music career if he hadn’t initially kept his background hidden.
He noted that when he released his first two hit music, people never had any idea that his father, Dr Deji Adeleke, is a rich man.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Culture Knock Out podcast, Davido noted that by the time people discovered his wealthy background, he had already released several hit songs.
Davido said …
“I’m the biggest criticised artist in Nigeria. I mean, I’m on fire and I’ve been on fire for a while. In the beginning, they didn’t know that my dad was rich. So the stigma of a rich kid doing music didn’t end up as crazy as it should have been for me.
“People didn’t know my father was rich. It was too late, I already did three hit songs before they found out that my dad had money…
“But I just wanted to do music. I didn’t care if I had to become homeless. At that point, that was all I wanted to do. Nothing would stop me.
“Over time, people started hating me because my dad is rich. But I keep on dropping good music, and it keeps working out.
“It happens to everyone, once you become the biggest in anything, you will get criticised. You are doing an election, people love you and they vote for you. But when you become president, they hate you.”
Check out video below …
“People didn’t know my father was rich till…”
– Davido pic.twitter.com/H7xFOCmoiA
— @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) May 13, 2025
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