Afrobeats star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has lamented the deteriorating relationship among artistes in the Nigerian music industry, saying the genre may be enjoying greater financial success today but has lost the unity that characterised its early years.

Davido made the remarks during a recent episode of the Uncut Podcast, which started trending on X onTuesday, where he reflected on the state of the Nigerian music industry and the evolution of Afrobeats.

The singer said the period between 2012 and 2013 was one of the most united periods in the industry, with artistes regularly spending time together, collaborating and supporting one another.

“Financially, it is a great time doing Afrobeats, but the relationship amongst artists is a failure,” Davido said.

“2012 to 2013, the industry was kind of together. Like, we all go out, we see ourselves, we all used to hang out,” he added.

According to the singer, the growing success and wealth of Afrobeats artistes eventually changed the dynamics within the industry.

“Everybody just got too big,” he said.

Davido recalled the atmosphere surrounding the recording of his 2011 hit song, Dami Duro, saying several artistes were present in the studio and regularly interacted with one another.

“When I recorded ‘Dami Duro’, in the studio was Wande Coal, Shank, Bigiano. They were artists there. We was always in together,” he said.

He noted that the camaraderie of that era had largely disappeared, with artistes now more likely to operate independently.

“And then now everybody dey find their own,” Davido said.

Watch the video below:

𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎: 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 — 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐨

Credit: Youtube | theuncutpodcast
—
Follow us for more breaking news and videos pic.twitter.com/ItOmIocgq0

— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) August 18, 2026