Popular Afrobeats Star, Davido has made the TIME 2021 list of the next 100 Most Influential People in the World.
TIME100 franchise recognizes 100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future of entertainment, health, politics, business and more.
The TIME100 Next list features surprising pairings of the list members and guest contributors TIME selects to write about them.
Laycon, winner of the 2020 BBNaija reality show wrote about Davido- a piece many have applauded.
He wrote: “Davido is one of the biggest voices in Afrobeats because his music connects with people, often in ways that transcend his expectations. When he released the song “FEM” in 2020, a title that loosely translates to “shut up” in Yoruba, he didn’t know it would become a major #EndSARS protest anthem, as youth banded together to demand the government take action to end police brutality in Nigeria last October. Officials responded by sending politicians to give speeches. We told the government to keep quiet unless they had something sensible to add—the ethos of “FEM” was directly relatable to that moment.
“You can tell Davido puts 100% into every song he makes. And the results are clear: his album A Good Time surpassed a billion streams in 2020. Afrobeats is a worldwide phenomenon, and Davido is one of many Nigerian artists who has made that possible; now more and more artists, from Nicki Minaj to Young Thug, want to work with him.
“By bringing Afrobeats to the global stage, he’s paved the way for people like me.”
The list has other Nigerians like Odun Eweniyi, FK Abudu and Dami Odufuwa.
