Early 2016, Nigerian pop star Davido signed a lucrative recording deal America’s major label Sony Music Entertainment/RCA Records, which was regarded as biggest deal from an African artistes to the world.
The deal with Sony Music/RCA Records sees that Davido was unable to released a single track in 11 months, while his first track under the label imprint ” Gbagbe Oshi ” was not able to be view on YouTube in African continent in its first week due to the terms and clause of the contract. According to reports, says that Sony Music/RCA Records will distribute and market Davido‘s music to anywhere in the world that African music has been consumed.
In early 2017, Davido took to social media to shows his dissatisfaction of Sony Music/RCA Records handling his music career. In the Snapchat post, he first announced the unceremonious departure of his longtime friend and manager Kamal Ajiboye who orchestral groundbreaking Sony Music deal with caption:
Fuck all that international shit! It’s cool but fuck it. I am back to the basics,” He wrote on the platform.
However, when fans keep waiting for first project from him under the label imprint, he hinted out that he owns all the master, though in the last 12 months, we have seen that Davido has gone through a lot development because in recent time we have seen him with new sound that are situate-able and marketable for Sony.
Just few days ago, Davido uploaded another post social media saying:
“Creative control returned, new music in 2 days.” This can obvious dig at Sony Music who gave him money and he signed on to a contract that gave them total control over his creative process and mode of release and distribution. This has cause missed reaction on what’s going on between Davido and Sony’s team.
In an exclusive interview with Pulse Music, General Manager of Sony Music West African, Micheal Ugwu says Davido’s deal is still fine with them.
“Everything is still happening within his contract with us. He has a deal for the rest of the world, and a slightly different deal in Africa. But everything is cool ”.
” Another source close to Davido, who spoke with Pulse Music on condition of anonymity said, “Davido’s deal has been modified. In Africa, he has more freedom now, and can release music under his name, by himself, instead of using his DMW record label.” The new arrangement has already kicked into play.
Davido‘s recent track titled ‘If’, was produced by Tekno, and has a video shot by Nigerian filmmaker, Director Q. There is no Sony Music or RCA Records signage in the visual.