Nigerian singer, David Adeleke, professionally known as Davido, has disclosed his vision of building African culture and creating a festival that celebrates Africa, News About Nigeria reports.
He made this known in an interview with Apple Music on Friday.
He expressed his desire to create a festival that will showcase African cultures to the world and provide a platform for African artists to showcase their talents globally through the Are We African Yet? (A.W.A.Y) festival.
Davido released his fourth album, ‘Timeless,’ and his hit single ‘Unavailable’ featuring Musa Keys, which made 2023 a successful year for him and earned him Grammy nominations.
He believes that having festivals in Africa is a way to build Africans and make them realize their worth, and he hopes to ensure that every artist has the opportunity to come and perform every year.
“I feel like we have to own our culture too. We can’t wait for somebody to bring the idea and be like, “Yo, Afrobeats is growing.” Let’s go register for African Coachella or something like that. I’m like, “No, we got to do this ourselves because this is ours. So we got to own it.” Down the line, if somebody wants to partner…”
The singer reiterated his passion for owning African culture and believes that it is crucial for Africans to build it rather than wait for someone else to bring the idea.
He sees the A.W.A.Y festival as an excellent way to achieve this and plans to move it around to different cities such as Atlanta, LA, and Toronto in the future.
Davido emphasised that his vision of building African culture is not limited to him alone but to the culture, and the festival will provide an opportunity for African artists to connect with their fans globally.
According to him, he hopes that the A.W.A.Y festival will be a yearly event that showcases and celebrates the rich and diverse cultures of Africa.
The A.W.A.Y festival will take place today at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, and the singer’s three nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards are a testament to his successful year.
