A MUST READ!!! Davido Music Worldwide (DMW) – The Gift And The Curse Of Joining The Label

A DMW contract automatically means you get to be among the richest artistes in Nigeria.

You are guaranteed a posh Lekki residence, designer drip, overseas trips with the gang on a private jet and have new Benz cars thrown your way because Davido is in a good mood.

You can only imagine how much cash an OBO trademarked for N1M gifts to even the most random of persons makes available to them.

No one is thinking of leaving DMW-not superstar Mayorkun whose peers of similar clout have long gone solo and definitely not Ichaba who hasn’t as much as dropped an EP since he joined the team in 2016.

But career-wise, DMW is the last place a musician would want to be right now especially one in the mould of recently signed singer, May D who has a pre-existing reputation in the music industry.

It is basic knowledge that the more the artistes, the harder it is to cater for the careers of everyone as each will have to wait their turn for promotion and releases no matter what they have in mind.

A May D eager to get back his career on track only needs to look at someone like Sanboribobo rapper, Sinzu (formerly known as Sauce Kid) who signed with that as an objective after he was released from prison in the US. The label boss is himself an artist. A very busy one at that who is set to release his second album in 2 years.

His artistes are contented with the occasional singles, videos and seasonal albums because they are very well pampered. With the exception of Mayorkun who guarantees a strong chance of making every song count, other DMW artistes have to their names a high miss rate and it is not because they are not talented, it is because it takes more than that to succeed in music these days.

Having an artist in our faces for a while before sending them to the back seat doesn’t always work. Some need to keep pushing even without a hit to help their brands with the publicity being here and there generates. An artiste like Idowest could use that.

The most elaborate DMW roll out is a single or 2, an album and a video shortly afterwards. Nothing extraordinary.
Peruzzi’s HeartWork EP was a much better work than his Huncho Vibez album. The only song with a video off Heartwork is the song i rate lowest-Majesty.

That EP had breath-taking songs like Did You, the radio-friendly Champion Lover featuring Burna boy & Ola with Mayorkun, perhaps Nigeria’s very first pop medley. Peruzzi was still milking off his feature on 2baba’s Amaka and badly needed some buzz of his own.

Dropping 3 catchy videos instantly in one fell swoop would have not only given the work the publicity it deserved, but it would also have ensured Peruzzi took over the airwaves and maybe got to score the first hit of his own.

The artistes need to be better promoted and not made to bank on the premise that being on DMW or having Davido on their single wins them everything.

Dremo dropped 2 great songs-Faaji and Wahala Dey before he dropped an album that resonated with fans in Codename Vol.2.He shouldn’t just have another video or two-shot, he could build on that buzz by recording a joint mixtape or album with Sinzu. That way both rappers on the label get to max off a period where there is a dearth in quality rap music.

Idowest’s Shamaya with Patoranking may not be the biggest song around right now but maybe a song or 2 back to back will earn him some valuable presence even if he doesn’t drop an album.

Well, at least no one is complaining. None of the artistes has felt a need to have their careers in their grasp and manage it how they see fit. They are living it up and that is enough.

The case of upcoming street rapper Lil Frosh is a sad one. He needed a label that would make him a priority and devote much time and resources to the promotion and establishing a pattern of consistency in trying to make him an industry mainstay.

I was saying he was likely to have Davido on his first DMW single and that having Davido on a song wasn’t enough promotion till i got told he had already released a single titled Fame with Davido.

Newest signing May D will definitely hope to hit previous heights but it would be very difficult to do so by not only having to share his label’s attention with 8 other artistes but by also being at a place where promotion and strategy aren’t quite top-notch.

But who cares?. A DMW deal entails cash and an exotic lifestyle. Justifiably or not, at the expense of career.

Written by:- Umar Sa’ad Hassan, based in Kano