Is Davido Afrobeats' Greatest Cross-Border Collaborator?
If there's one thing Davido has consistently done throughout his career, it's look beyond Nigeria's borders. Long before international collaborations became an industry norm and years before Amapiano became a mainstay in the Afrobeats soundscape, Davido was actively building musical bridges across Africa and beyond. From American rappers and Jamaican stars to South African hitmakers, the award-winning megastar has spent more than a decade expanding the sound and reach of Nigerian music through collaboration.
His willingness to experiment with different sounds and cultures can be traced back to 2015's "Fans Mi" featuring Meek Mill, “Pere” with Young Thug and Rae Sremmurd in 2017, which was only just the start. He has since made records with the likes of Nicki Minaj, Popcaan, Lil Baby, Skepta and most notably, Chris Brown, with whom he has developed a successful partnership with in terms of continuous music releases. The discussion eventually must sway to his continuous collaboration with South African artistes —the Amapiano connoisseurs. As far back as 2014, Davido teamed up with the Mafikizolo duo on a song titled, “Tchelete” (prod. by DJ Maphorisa and Shizzi). At the time, South African sounds had not yet achieved the widespread acceptance they enjoy in Nigeria today. He continued that trend in 2015 with "The Sound" alongside Uhuru before taking things a step further in 2016. “Coolest Kid in Africa” with South African rapper, Nasty C became one of that year’s standout records. It was different and most importantly, it was Hip-Pop. “Check On You” with another rapper, Cassper Nyovest also rolled out and then…a brief pause. Davido focused on his other projects.
Just as Amapiano donned its hats and was beginning to dominate conversations across Africa, Davido returned to that scene, whipping up “Ke Star (remix)” with Focalistic \& Virgo Deep and featured on the Kel-P produced Adekunle Gold’s Amapiano-infused hit record, “High”.
Davido’s Amapiano exploration continued on his fourth LP ‘TIMELESS’. He tapped Musa Keys on the viral Grammy-nominated hit, “UNAVAILABLE”. The album also delivered another Amapiano hit with “Away”.
Davido's engagement with South African music did not stop there. In 2025, he reunited with DJ Maphorisa on the “Biri Marung” (remix) and also experimented on the “Galorizzy” track with a lineup including South African producer, K-Zaka, South African musician, Scotts Maphuma along with Nigeria’s DJ Ecool, Mavo, Morravey and Ghanaian producer, iPhxne DJ. Later that year, he joined South African duo TxC on "Nakupenda" alongside Zlatan and Shoday, a record that outlived the Detty December peak and found audiences, not only on the continent but outside.
Now, Davido is preparing to write another chapter in his beautiful story as Africa’s foremost sonic adventurer. On June 26, Davido is set to release his first single as a lead act since he delivered his successive fifth LP ‘5IVE’. Describing the record as "the journey to the throne begins," Davido once again looks southward, enlisting South African artistes Jazzworx and GL_Ceejay for the release. More than a decade after "Tchelete," Davido remains committed to exploring sounds beyond his comfort zone, with Amapiano representing just one chapter in a career marked by numerous musical experiments and cross-cultural collaborations.
