My father sent policemen to arrest me when I started music – Davido

Davido

Award-winning music star, Davido, has revealed that his father sent policemen to arrest him when he started doing music.

Davido said his father was upset when he dropped out of Oakwood University in Alabama, US, to return home to pursue a music career.

The Atalanta born singer said his father, Adedeji Adeleke, a billionaire businessman, insisted on him finishing his tertiary education.

In an interview on Breakfast Club, a show on US radio station Power FM, the ‘Assurance’ singer talked about his early beginnings in the music industry.

Davido revealed that after releasing his first song, ‘Back When’ featuring Naeto C, he snuck into Nigeria to perform at shows and promote his music.

He said: “Those days, my dad was hearing ‘David is in Nigeria’. At the time, I was not in school for about a year,” he said.

“The song was hot so I started doing club gigs. He found out and all hell broke loose. He started sending police to the shows, arresting the promoters.

“I remember the first show I did… there were 50 policemen. Back then, they arrested my girl, my manager, the show promoter.

“Then the song started getting big, so it was getting harder for my dad to send the police after me. Then at some my point, my dad called me and said ‘let’s have a meeting’, so we met up.”

Davido then revealed he and his father reached a compromise after the meeting for him to study in Nigeria while he pursued his music career.

The Babcock graduate also talked about the discrimination he faced in the music industry because of his father’s wealth and influence.

He said: “In the beginning, some people never liked me because my dad had the bread. But I think over the years, they have (come) to understand the kind of person I am. I didn’t grow alone, There are so many artistes back home that have used my platform to grow.”