When Davido was young, he occasionally passed by Madison Square Garden to visit his aunt. Fast-forward and the Afrobeats superstar will be headlining his first-ever concert at the legendary venue on Wednesday, April 17, as part of his extended “Timeless Tour.” 

More and more Nigerian artists like Davido have been headlining MSG over the years, including Burna Boy‘s historic concert in April 2022 and Wizkid’s in November 2022. “Man, every artists' dream is to finally be able to do a show at the Garden,” Davido tells BET. “Performing there one day was something that was always on my bucket list and it’s finally about to happen.”

The Atlanta-born singer-songwriter teases his fans and adds that the show will be one of the greatest “Davido shows” ever. “I'm gonna be taking them back, performing the earlier records, definitely. Then all the way down to Timeless, the new records. I have so many surprise guests coming. I'm working so hard on the production. I'm trying to give them the best experience they can ever experience. I want them to go home changed, not the same, feel me?” he says. “New York has been a city that supported me very, very early in my career. So, this is like me giving back, saying, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.’ It’s definitely not gonna be the first and last one. I’m gonna come back again, every time I can.”

Produced by U.S.-based entertainment company Duke Concept, the three new North American arena dates will start with the MSG show, followed by a show at Montreal’s Place Bell on April 19 and end with a show at Orlando’s Additional Financial Arena on April 24. “We are actually adding more arenas later on this year as well. So watch out for that,” Davido reveals.  

Founder of Duke Concept, Osita Ugeh, reveals that he has worked with Davido since 2014 on his first show in the U.S. and a few other tours. “He is one of those that supports independent promoters and stuff. Ten years later and we are still working with him. Some artists tend to move on to bigger establishments or want something else. But he’s been steadfast in the fact that he wants to bring people who he started with along the journey. So that's one thing I commend him for,” Ugeh says of Davido. “As far as the show at Madison Square Garden, Davido always has something up his sleeves, to be honest. I know that he has a lot of surprises lined up. He’s coming with full energy, all the energy he has bottled up over the years. This is going to be one of his best shows ever.”

With nearly 13 years in the music industry, Davido is known for being one of the most important Afrobeats artists of the 21st century and is credited alongside Burna Boy and Wizkid for popularizing the genre globally. The 31-year-old released his fourth studio album, Timeless, in March 2023 via his record label Davido Music Worldwide. The 17-track project peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 2 on its World Albums chart. His hit single “Unavailable” featuring Musa Keys peaked at No. 3 on both Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs and World Digital Song Sales charts. During a red carpet interview at her FENTY x PUMA sneaker launch last year, Rihanna revealed that “Unavailable” was one of her favorite songs of 2023. “Man, that's crazy,” Davido said of the moment.”When I watched that interview, I was literally just talking about her and I saw it like, ‘Oh, she likes ‘Unavailable,’ that's dope.’ She's one of the artists I dream to work with. That would definitely be crazy.” 

The three-time Grammy award-nominee’s record label, which he created in 2016, is home to many talented artists. It was created through the joy he has in seeing others win. “I'm in love with my job and when I see other people doing the same thing on a different level or on a smaller level or whatever level it is, I'm just happy,” he explains. “I'm always happy to help and just nurture young acts. It's just something that's in my heart to do. I don't do it for business. I don't do it for my gain. I just like to see people grow. Any way I can help or put you in position to feed your family and to change your status, I’m there for it.”

Davido reveals that he is also working on new music and will release a new album this year. “I got more music with Chris Brown coming out in about two or three weeks on his album,” he adds. I'm in South Africa right now, and I'm working with a lot of Amapiano artists as well. Definitely, the album is coming.”

Aside from their solid friendship, Davido and Chris Brown are known to be frequent collaborators. In January, he scored his first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart thanks to his feature on Brown’s “Sensational” alongside Lojay. “Trust me, he's the most amazing person to work with,” Davido begins. “He pushes me to the limit. Like, he's a hard worker. I'm talking about day and night recording. From going to the studio, going to rehearsal, shooting a video, getting on a plane, doing a show, he's a machine. Apart from music, that's my brother. It's always amazing making music with somebody that you love and adore. Every time we get in the studio, it always comes out good because we f**k with each other anyway. I think we're gonna be getting a Davido and Chris Brown project soon. It's gonna come eventually. We got like 20 songs that people didn't even hear yet.”

Outside of work, Davido reveals that being a father to twins is the best feeling ever. “I remember when they came, everybody was calling like, ‘They have twins, blah, blah, blah. It's gonna be hard.’ But, my twins are blessed. They don’t even cry. They're just calm and they're just growing so fast. It's just a blessing. Thank God for everything really,” he says. 

Davido’s Madison Square Garden show is on April 17th.