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My dad arrested my friends, show promoter, because I refused to quit music – Davido

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Afrobeats singer and producer Davidohas revealed how he launched a music career against his father’s will.

His father, Adedeji Adeleke, is a billionaire, business magnate, president of Adeleke University and the CEO of Pacific Holdings Limited.

In an interview session with a radio station, Real 92.3, in Los Angeles, Davido shared his musical journey and how his father disapproved of his music career when he started.

The Afrobeats star, born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, said his father did not know he was a musician until about two years after he started recording his songs.

According to Davido, who is the most followed African artiste on Instagram and Twitter, he did not tell his father about his music because he looked up to him and did not want to disappoint him as well.

He said, “I come from a family where you go to school; after that, you will work for dad. It is a business and Christian family. That’s why I didn’t let my people know I was a musician.”

“My Dad didn’t know I was a musician till about two years after I started recording. I’m the last child of five. All my siblings graduated and had their master’s degrees. So, I was expected to do the same.”

Running away

The 30-year-old singer, who studied business administration at Oakwood University in the U.S. before dropping out, noted that he once had a big show, and his father sent the police to arrest him, the promoter and everyone else at the forefront.

Before then, the music star said he left his father’s palatial home to become a studio rat because he was determined to brave the odds against him, which in this case, was his father’s disapproval.

He said, ‘‘We had a 60 million dollar house in Nigeria that I ran away from; I was sleeping in my friend’s studio, hot. My guys were telling me to be going home,’’ he said.

He said his father put him far away from home, which was about a four-hour drive so that he could focus on school and leave music, but he ran away twice.

The Unavailable crooner, who lost his mother as a child, felt despite his father’s love for him, he was being overprotective because of a promise he probably made to his mother to always take care of him.

“My dad saw a billboard of me, and his security told him that your son has the hottest song in the club right now, and he came to the show I headlined and arrested the fans, me, my friends, and even my promoter. After that, I was on a roll, switching locations like a real-life fugitive, switching hotels, and switching sim cards.

“No one wanted to book me because of this. It happened more than once, and the third time I said I was gone, I scaled the fence, ran, and remembered I was not wearing shoes. They called me and said they arrested all my friends, and then I said I don’t want to make music again, and they released them.

Gradual acceptance

Davido told the show anchors that his father wanted him to stay in school. The deal was that he would be in school for 30 days and get three days off, and then his father promised to build him a studio and finance his career.

“I recorded this one song, and it blew up. One day, my guy called me to say he was at the club last night, and people were singing my song. This was like the first time anybody would celebrate me.”

“So, I left school. School is like four hours away. My dad put me four hours away from the city. I went to the club, and after the DJ played my song, they all went crazy. I started getting some little gigs from there. My father found out that I left school. This was the second time I had been running away.”

“I had this big show once, and he sent the police. They arrested the promoter, and anybody backstage, whether you were a fan or even people in the crowd. He was doing that for a couple of gigs. Then I dropped another song, and it was bigger. It was even like the president of the country’s ringtone. Over time, he decided to let me be.”

Eventually, after several attempts to break even in the Nigerian music industry, the second single from his debut studio album, Omo Baba Olowo (2012), became the game changer.

“I recorded the song ‘Dami Duro’, which means you can’t stop me. ‘Ema Dami duro, Emi Omo babalowo’ means you can’t stop me, leave me to do what I want to do; I’m the son of a rich man,” he said.

“So people called him (his dad), let David do this, cause the music is popping, he friends were listening’’.

Timeless album and tour

Also, speaking on his timeless album, Davido emphasised that it meant a lot of things to him, particularly the cover image, which represented what his late son, Ifeanyi, loved.

He said he wants the album to have an evergreen vibe for many years and for the audience to feel the same way every time they listen.

“I lost my son last year, and he loved nature, like trees. His favourite animal was an elephant. The timeless cover image was used to represent all the things he loved. He was with me in the studio through half of the songs.”

Meanwhile, he disclosed that his Timeless Album tour tickets, almost sold out, sold about 40 per cent of the tickets representing 8,000 in 24 hours.

“The tour is almost sold out right now. The team and I are working so hard. The genre Afrobeat is bigger now, so we will do it big.”

The Afrobeat star rose to fame after he released his second single, “Dami Duro”, from his debut studio album Omo Baba Olowo in 2012. Since then, he has released several singles and albums such as “Ekuro”, “Overseas”, “All of You”, “Gbon Gbon”, and “And Feel Alright”, amongst others, to be where he is today.

His current album, ‘Timeless’, is his fourth studio album and has won the hearts of his fans and music enthusiasts, particularly the song ‘Unavailable’, the most trending song on the album.

AwayFest

The Afrobeat star further hinted at his upcoming project called ‘AwayFest’, which would provide a platform for Nigerian artistes and creatives who do not have the opportunity to be in America to perform in Atlanta, United States.

He disclosed that starting in November, the project would touch on African fashion, food and, most notably, music to showcase Africa to the world.

He said, “I’m starting AwayFest in Atlanta in November. I want to bring artists and creatives to Nigeria who don’t have the opportunity to come to America. We are going to be showcasing fashion, food and music. It has always been my thing to showcase Africa to the world.”

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Peter Okoye reacts to alleged song ownership by twin brother

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Iconic Nigerian singer Peter Okoye has responded to allegations made by his twin brother Paul over ownership of a new song “Winning.”

Peter Okoye shared a detailed account of the song’s creation, clarifying his role and collaboration with others, including Ghanaian producer Vampire and songwriter Calypso.

He questioned Paul’s claims, citing their agreed-upon creative process and Paul’s removal of his (Peter’s) vocals from joint songs.

Peter also addressed his temporary break from music, stating he took time to recharge before returning with “Winning.”

He wrote on X: “If you have followed my journey as a solo artiste and even before, you will notice that I give people their due credit where necessary as I am a firm believer in teamwork; I know my strengths, where I need assistance or guidance I am not afraid to ask or work with those who are strong in the areas I am not; this includes the process of creating music, executing concepts and ideas etc. I will always credit people for their contributions to my projects.

“Sometime in June 2022, I stumbled upon a producer based in Ghana named Vampire, and my team and I also personally reached out to him via DM, that I liked his work and was interested in working with him. Before getting him to Lagos, I presented the idea of this producer to my twin brother and our team, getting their buy-in before I got him flight tickets and flew him to Lagos.“

It was when he got into Lagos I asked if he would be open to working on P-SQUARE’s next album project, that the 5 songs I had penned down from my end to be presented to our A&R team for the album project were: JAIYE, WINNING, FIND SOMEBODY, LEGENDARY, and ATTENTION, based on tracks he had produced.

“We started with my own 5 songs that needed to be submitted for PSQUARE’s album, which he produced for me: The idea for WINNING came from one of his beats that I discovered. I came up with the idea of changing the chord progression from the original version to what it is today with my own producer Goldswarm who is the co-producer of the song WINNING.

“I had also engaged a songwriter known as CALYPSO who wrote and composed the song WINNING and sent it to me on the beats through a voice note. And we started working on the song. Mind you, he worked on some other songs that were to make the album as well, so my brother was aware of his input to the production as we were all in the studio during this period.

“Then when my twin brother heard the song WINNING, which we had already created the hook/chorus for, he then wanted to start creating a verse. Our agreed-on process for each song presented by us was: arrange the song, leave a verse for the other person, then we both harmonise the chorus and refrain bits together. He wasn’t supposed to until Calypso and I finished it as part of my own song submission to the LEGENDARY ALBUM.

“After that, we finished and shared verses among ourselves. I do not wish to get into details of why the album didn’t see the light of day till date but it takes a different level of psychosis for one to steal what is theirs already; as since the release of this song, I have been labeled and called all sorts online and they have even gone as far as asking for the song to be taken down on various platforms, to what end?

“It was never part of his 5, now 6 (according to him) songs for submission, yet when he felt I was not interested in making music because I chose my sanity over the constant berating and drama that seemed to come up over creative direction in the group.

“If it were his song, why do I have all the music data including initial conversations and picture/video evidence on the above-mentioned titles/songs? Which of his songs do I have its data in my possession in that case? All because he was hoping for me to quit music. Even when I learnt that he had removed my vocals on songs we did together, suggesting that he sing the entire songs including the ones that he planned to present for the album without my input (a very absurd idea as we both make up the duo not just the one), but we both perform them on stage, I begun to have a rethink of the entire situation. Let me leave this here.

“Maybe because I was not posting anything music-related on my social media page for over 4 months. He believes I have lost interest in music. I took a breather to get my mind and head in the right space and when that was done, my epiphany was WINNING!”.

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DNA test more important than naming ceremony- Don Jazzy

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producer and executive, Don Jazzy, has urged men to prioritise the paternity of their children, stating that it is more important than a naming ceremony.

On his Instagram story, Don Jazzy emphasised: “DNA test is more important than naming ceremony.”

His statement comes amid ongoing debates about the necessity of DNA tests, fuelled by recent high-profile cases of paternity fraud.

Don Jazzy known in real life as Michael Collins Ajereh is the founder of Mavin Records – through which he has signed artistes including D’Prince, Rema, and Ayra Starr.

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Pastor Love jailed 48 months in hard labour for stealing

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Pastor Hammond Love, widely known as Pastor Love, has been convicted of theft and sentenced to 48 months in prison with hard labour.

GBC Ghana Online reports that Pastor Love, a former husband of gospel musician Obaapa Christie, was found guilty of the offence after seven years of trial. 

Before he was sentenced, Pastor Love pleaded with the court for mercy, adding that he was willing to pay any fine that would be imposed on him. 

The court presided over by Isaac Addo, took into consideration the fact that the convicted Pastor Love was a first-time offender.

The court held that as a Pastor, he was expected to hold a high level of integrity, especially in matters of trust, and therefore handed him the 48-month jail term as a fair deterrent. 

The facts of the case as presented by ASP Frimpong was that in 2016 one Samuel Amankwah, a resident of the US, shipped a 4×4 vehicle into Ghana and tasked Pastor Love to clear it from the port. 

The convict cleared the said vehicle with his money, after which the complainant told him to sell it for US$50,000 and deduct the amount he paid as duty.

Later, the complainant told Pastor Love to hold on with the sale of the vehicle as he would travel to Ghana and refund his money. 

In April 2017, the complainant arrived in the country and contacted Pastor Love for his vehicle, but he could not produce it despite several demands. 

The complainant complained with the Police and Pastor Love was arrested in May 2017. 

During interrogation, the convicted Pastor Love told the Police that he secured a loan of GH¢40,000 with 20 per cent interest to clear the vehicle and was accruing more interest, so he sold the vehicle at GH¢80,000 without the consent of the owner and paid GH¢70,000 to the loan company.

Meanwhile, Pastor Love was unable to lead the Police to the said loan company to verify the claim and could not also tell who bought the vehicle. 

The Judge said the convict was dishonest to the Court.

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