I would have jumped off the balcony, Davido recounts first negative experience with fame

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Nigerian singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has recalled a terrifying early encounter with fame that made him question if celebrity status was worth the exposure.

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He said the experience happened barely two months after his breakout songs took over the airwaves.

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Davido disclosed this in an interview titled “Davido Joins The Vibe Q,” published on the official VIBE Magazine YouTube channel on Thursday.

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The singer said he had only released a couple of records at the time, but their impact was massive enough to earn him a booking in Ghana.

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“I have like one song, I have like two records, but these are like the biggest records ever,” he said.

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He said the reception that greeted him on arrival in Ghana was beyond anything he had imagined for someone who, in his words, “was just a regular person last month.”

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“Yo, it’s like Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber type. So I’m like, yo, we lit,” he said.

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Davido said the thrill of his rising fame was constant in that period, with new milestones arriving weekly.

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“Every week is just something new. I’m excited. I’m like, yo, I’m blowing up every week. We’re going higher in the charts,” he said.

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He said the excitement extended to how women began responding to him, a shift he found hard to process at the time.

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“I’m excited. I’m like, yo, these girls actually love me,” he said.

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The singer said a visit to a nightclub during the trip led to his first experience with a groupie, an encounter he described as memorable before it turned into an ordeal the next morning.

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“It was my first groupie, take back to the… that was like my first rodeo in that. And then I remember it was just a great night,” he said.

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Davido said his manager banged on his hotel room door while he was still asleep, warning him to stay calm before breaking the news.

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“He was like, open the door. He was like, calm down,” Davido said.

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He said the woman he had spent the night with had taken a picture of him asleep and shared it, after friends had doubted her claims of being with him.

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“Apparently she was telling people like, ‘oh, I’m with Davido.’ They’re like, ‘no, you’re lying.’ And then she took the picture,” he said.

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Davido recalled that the fallout was swift and personal, as calls poured in from his family once the image circulated.

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“My daddy was calling me. My sisters were calling me,” he said.

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The singer said the shock of the exposure pushed him close to a breaking point that morning.

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“If I saw balcony that day, I would have jumped. I was going crazy,” Davido said.

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Asked whether such an experience was a necessary part of fame, Davido said his youth and fondness for women at the time made the lesson unavoidable, adding that he believed a higher power intervened to guide him.

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“I was young and I liked women too much. God had to show me, trust me, God had to show me at the time,” he said.

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He said the incident taught him an early and lasting lesson about the risks that come with celebrity status, particularly for young public figures who remain exposed even while trying to enjoy themselves.

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“You’re young, you’re famous, you’re a target. Even if you want to have fun, take their phones,” he said.

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