Entertainment is a gateway to educate the world about Africa – Davido | Pulse Nigeria

Nigerian superstar Davido has shared his thoughts on how entertainment has been instrumental in reshaping global perceptions of Africa. 

During a recent interview, the Afrobeats star spoke on his experiences growing up and navigating an all-white community, highlighting the ignorance he encountered about his African heritage.

He explained, “I’ve said this about 100 times but I went to school in an all-white community so me being an African child, going to school in America and in their own words, ‘coming straight off the boat’ in that community, I knew they weren’t really educated about how Africa is. They’d ask questions like, ‘How did you fly here?’ Me that I went there in a private jet. They ask questions like, do y’all have airports?’ This and that.”

Davido stressed that the narrative about Africa changed over time and the misconceptions motivated him to proudly showcase African culture. Through his music in particular, he sought to educate the Western world about Nigerian and African culture at large.

“That’s why I love to show my culture. When it comes to artistes I work with and everything, I want to let them know that everything they have abroad also exists in Africa. Growing up in that environment made me really realise that the Western world, as of then, wasn’t really educated about how Africa is. They were only educated about what they saw in the news,” he explained.

Davido concluded, “Entertainment, I feel was a gateway to really show them. Before if a person said they’re from Nigeria, people would say 419 and other things. And now, they say they love afrobeats, African food and clothes. The narrative is changing.”