Wenslus Murape
DeAsia Page
ATLANTA. – You can gauge how well a Davido concert is going by how long the audience dances ? along the aisles, in the stairways.
His music demands you stay on your feet. It has fuelled his rise as a leading voice in Afrobeats.
It’s part of what makes him a global superstar.
I learned this very quickly at his Atlanta show on Thursday night, which was filled with nonstop rhythms that guided the crowd throughout the concert.
Ahead of the show, I didn’t know what to expect. I’d never been to a Davido concert, although he incited my Afrobeats fandom during the summer of 2019. So when I arrived at the 8 pm start time to see many sections of empty seats, I figured not many people would show up.
Boy was I wrong.
An hour later, more fans started to enter the arena as the concert officially began. That’s when I knew I was in for a long night.
Across roughly two-and-a-half hours, Davido & Friends became a vibrant celebration of African music that felt like an endless party.
After all, the show commemorated major milestones: the 5-year-anniversary of Davido’s sophomore album “A Good Time” (the project that turned him into a superstar) and his 32nd birthday.
The Atlanta-born, Nigeria-raised artist curated an experience that proved why the sugary sounds of Afrobeats have taken over the world.
Openers included Papoose, Cuhdeejah, Emmerson, Ecool, Lala and Jay Zen. Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s fitting, then, that the concert honoured the LP that powered such domination. “A Good Time,” which boasts features from Summer Walker, Gunna, Popcaan and Chris Brown, weaved West African beats with contemporary rap R&B while staying true to Davido’s roots.
“Fall,” the most popular single from the album, became the longest-charting Nigerian pop song in Billboard history.
Of the album, he previously told the AJC: “I stuck to what I knew without sounding American, and the people loved it. It was a life-changing album for me and solidified that Afrobeats was about to break in America.”
Since its release in 2019, the global popularity Afrobeats and other African music generes has become mountainous – so much that the Grammys and Billboard have created categories to recognize its influence. Showcasing the depths of its impact became the thesis of Thursday’s concert.
Davido hit the stage around 10:30 pm, which felt late to me but right on time for others.
Later in the show, he floated in songs from “A Good Time” like “Intro,” “D&G,” “Risky,” “If” and (of course) “Fall.”
When he got to the “Sensational” (the Grammy-nominated Chris Brown track that’s currently dominating radio airwaves) part of the night, the crowd’s energy notably diminished.
But it picked back up when Davido stuck to his own songs like his latest single “Awuke.”
Rising reggae star YG Marley, Nigerian rapper Odumodublvck and singer Kcee were among the night’s surprise acts aka the “friends” of the concert. – Atlanta Jounal-Constitution
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