Written by Olu Oke
Monday, 5th December 2016 served as a monumental day for Nigerian superstar Davido and the Afrobeats (that’s what they’re calling it these days right?) genre as a whole. He sold out the KOKO music venue in Camden and gave a performance that was truly for the ages.
The night started with Davido Music Worldwide stars – Lola Rae, Dremo and Mayorkun opening up the show each with notable sets of their own. The host, DJ Abrantee of Capital Xtra continued to keep the slew of Afrobeats hits running to get the crowd amped up for OBO’s milestone performance till he eventually took to the stage closer to 10pm; the late start did nothing to dampen the mood of attendees as he was greeted with enthusiastic applause upon his arrival on the stage.
Backed with a full live band – The Compozers; Afrobeat’s golden boy ran through an extensive range of his discography for over 90 minutes that really put his hit records in perspective. The first half of his set consisted of crowd favourites such as ‘All of You’, ‘Ekuro’ & the timeless ‘Dami Duro’ from his first & only LP to date (O.B.O.). He also gave energetic performances of major hits including ‘Tchelete’, ‘Izzue’, ‘Gobe’, ‘Aye’, ‘The Money’ & ‘Skelewu’ to name a few.
Half-way through his set, the DMW general brought out label mates Dremo & Mayorkun to perform the infectious ‘Back 2 Back’. After that, he ran through records off his recently released Son of Mercy EP, including ‘Gbagbe Oshi’, ‘Coolest Kid in Africa’ & ‘How Long’.
Overall, Davido delivered and ended his set to well-deserved rapturous applause. The growth in his artistry since his debut single Back When, was clear for all to see. Davido is a certified superstar and the show capped an incredible year for the artist, in which he received numerous awards, played his first SXSW set & even bagged himself a groundbreaking FADER cover.