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For the past 15 years, Davido has brought Afrobeats to audiences worldwide. Now, he hopes to bring the world to Lagos.
The Nigerian superstar will host a three-night residency at Lagos’ National Theatre from December 17 to 19. The homecoming will celebrate his latest album, “Oriadé,” his biggest hits and a career that has grown with Afrobeats’ global rise.
But for the 34-year-old, the residency means more than just marking 15 years in the music industry; he wants to prove that African artists don’t need to go overseas to create global music moments, and hopes Lagos can become a destination for fans everywhere.
“Bringing everything back home is very important for the culture,” Davido told CNN.
The idea came to him after he toured Africa last year. Although he has performed in Nigeria in recent years, it was his first time touring the wider continent in eight years.
“Me just being home just gave me so much inspiration,” he said. “This kind of feels better doing it from where you’re actually from.”
“I don’t ever want to take that kind of break again away from my fans back home,” he added.
Davido says part of his vision for Lagos came from watching Bad Bunny bring fans from around the world to Puerto Rico for his 30-date residency in 2025.
What stood out to him wasn’t just the performances on stage, but everything happening around them.
“It was like a whole tourist attraction,” Davido said. “The country (Puerto Rico) made money, he made money, he promoted his culture. So that’s kind of where my head is at.”
Lagos is already a tourist destination in December, when members of the Nigerian diaspora and visitors from around the world pour into the city for concerts, parties and other events during the festive period popularly known as “Detty December.”
Davido hopes his residency, featuring music from across his career and appearances from some of his collaborators, will give fans another reason to visit and introduce Lagos to people who have never visited.
And he believes Lagos is ready for the attention.
“The talent in Lagos is mind-blowing,” he said. “Talent is like water in Lagos.”
This residency is one of the first of its kind for an Afrobeats artist in Nigeria. Adekunle Gold held a smaller residency in Lagos back in 2018.
Davido’s shows will be at the newly renovated National Theatre, a place he remembers as a key part of Nigeria’s entertainment history.
“It’s like our own MSG (Madison Square Garden) kind of thing,” he said, comparing its cultural significance to the legendary New York venue.
“It’s very important that we show the outside world that we have these kinds of facilities in Africa as well,” Davido said. “We’re really showing people that we can do this ourselves.”
Afrobeats’ global growth has opened doors that were hard to imagine when Davido started his career. Now, African artists often tour internationally and perform for audiences far from home. Davido is proud of this recognition, but he doesn’t want success overseas to mean leaving African audiences behind.
“Everybody’s going to get a hit and run to America, run to the UK, run to the Middle East and do shows,” he said. “But I feel like bringing everything back home is very important for the culture.”
“We might not get paid as much as we get paid overseas,” he said, but added that artists can still bring home the same energy and ambition they would give audiences elsewhere, and create local jobs.
He wants the next generation of artists to remember the audience that supported them before the big arenas and international stages.
“Don’t forget where you started,” he said. “These are the fans. If not for these fans, we wouldn’t be here.”
