Davido and Wizkid Beef: Full Story Behind Their Rivalry

The long-standing beef between two of Afrobeat's biggest stars, Wizkid and Davido, is no longer news. The music industry globally is ruled by its consistent beef, especially between two artists who are deep rivals like late rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.

Even though almost everyone is familiar with the rivalry between Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, professionally known as Wizkid, and David Adedeji Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, and have chosen sides, many might not be aware of the origin of the beef between Wizkid and Davido. Read further, as this piece will cover the origin of the beef between Wizkid and Davido, how it has been going so far, and reactions from fans and foes

Origin of Wizkid and Davido’s Beef (2014-2016)

The inception of the beef between Wizkid and Davido dates back to 2014, a few years after the duo rose to fame nearly at the same time. The comparisons between them were inevitable, and fans began pitting them against each other.

This led to subtle social media jabs and perceived slights until their rivalry became public when Wizkid and Davido exchanged veiled criticisms in their tweets, each expressing their superiority over the other.

In 2014, after concluding his New York show and heading for London, Wizkid tweeted: “I already killed NY!! London 26th Sept!! Manchester 28th Sept!!! Big surprise!! Still proper shows!! proper venues!!!...."

It was assumed that this tweet was directed at Davido as a diss since he held his concert just around the same time. 

However, Wizkid cleared the air afterward, noting that his tweet wasn’t an attempt to diss Davido as he was simply referring to the terrible sound system he experienced at a previous concert in an interview, The Truth About Wizkid, with Olisa Dibua in 2016.

In a follow-up interview with the same host, Davido firmly disagreed with Wizkid’s claim, stating that he was quite sure that the tweet was about him.

From Beef to Truce to More Beef between Wizkid and Davido (2016 to 2023)

After the 2016 affair, Wizkid and Davido's beef was only getting started, and many more jabs followed. In 2017, YBNL boss Olamide featured Davido in his song titled “Summer Body,” and the DMW boss wasted no time in dropping a diss at Wizkid in his lyrics. 

Davido, in his verse, said, “With Yankee passport dem say we local, you better catch up I'll see you later.”

In July of the same year, Wizkid retaliated in a cryptic post. He wrote: “My people make una remember to say Yankee passport no be baba blue, e no dey cure frog voice.”

Just when we thought the whole beef was becoming more and more intense, Davido, during an interview with Native Magazine in 2018, revealed that he and Wizkid decided to bury the hatchet after things got more physical.

It became apparent that Davido was not wrong since the duo graced each other’s shows with joint performances in the same year. Wizkid first performed at Davido’s 30BG concert, and Davido, in return, performed at Wizkid’s Eko Hotel Concert.

Davido and Wizkid's newfound friendship appeared to be gaining ground as Davido publicly acknowledged that he received Wizkid’s congratulatory message on the birth of his son, Ifeanyi Adeleke while congratulating him on his 02 Arena Concert.

Meanwhile, on 30th September 2020, Davido was interviewed by popular host Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, and he confirmed that he made several attempts to collaborate with Wizkid to no avail. He also affirmed that he loves Wizkid and blamed the competition in the industry for the beef between him and Wizkid.

However, that same year, Davido posted Wizkid’s album "Made In Lagos" in 2020, and Wizkid ignored him; this move sparked a lot of emotions, with many davido fans claiming that Wizkid did this on purpose because he liked posts by other artists like BurnaBoy, Patoraking and Yemi Alade who also posted about the album.

Since there was a perceived truce between Wizkid and Davido, many fans pushed the idea that Wizkid's inaction was nothing and that it was unfair for people to make assumptions when we have not seen any direct jabs from either party.

Notably, Wizkid respectfully postponed the release of his album when Davido's son, Ifeanyi Adeleke, passed away in 2022; this alone strengthened the belief that there was no beef between Wizkid and Davido.

We even became more convinced on 8th January 2023, when Wizkid took to his Instagram page to announce a joint tour with Davido. In his words:

Wizkid also posted Davido’s “Timeless” album, urging his fans to go listen to it and solidifying the fans' belief that they were on good terms.

The love fest between Wizkid and Davido continued throughout the rest of 2023. Davido and Wizkid were seen partying together at the "Even In The Day" event in Lagos in 2023. Following the celebration, Davido declared on X that Wizkid will be releasing the "S2" EP, his new project.

Both 30BG and Wizkid FC celebrated the tweet from Davido, but there was still the inevitable question: will this love fest last forever? It was as if the social media space was allergic to any collaboration between the duo but was eager to resume the never-ending beef between Wizkid and Davido— they were never disappointed.

Beef Reignited: Recent Feud between Wizkid and Davido (2024-date)

Even though Davido and Wizkid shared the stage and performed side by side at each other's shows, the beef between Wizkid and Davido was not over. What happened amidst the truce between them made it seem like it was a facade all this while.

The recent beef between Wizkid and Davido started brewing in January 2024 when Davido shared a tweet on his official X page, which stirred the pot once again as fans concluded that his post was directed at Wizkid.

The post read: "We no Dey do 'it will grow on you' for here....."

The tweet from Davido looks innocent enough, but Davido made this tweet following his collaboration with Kizz Daniel on the remix of Kizz Daniel's hit song, “Twe Twe,”. The single was a hit trending in the Nigerian airwaves at the time.

Wizkid Fan Club (Wizkid FC) reacted negatively to Davido's tweet, claiming it was a diss directed at Wizkid. The reason for their accusation was that Wizkid changed his music style, moving away from the mainstream afrobeats party songs to a more RnB style.

Wizkid FC has always defended these songs by saying that it may not be the usual party song seen in Nigeria, but if you give it time, 'it will grow on you' rather than judging it at first impression.

It is safe to say that Davido may be aware of the phrase and how it relates to Wizkid fans. However, there was no comment from Wizkid - but who was to know that the battle line had been drawn and Wizkid was only warming up?

Fast-forward to April 28, 2024, Davido posted another cryptic tweet implying that since he came into the music industry, some people have not had peace. As fans reacted, claiming the message was directed at Wizkid and BurnaBoy, there was still no immediate response from Wizkid.

Wizkid rarely posts on his social media accounts, but once in a while, he comes online and interacts with his fans on Twitter; it was on the 29th of April 2024 that he dropped the bomb, which let all hell loose in the Nigerian online community.

The Joro coroner came online on the 29th of April 2024 and started with a new cryptic tweet saying that every day he has something to say, but he knows his mouth is not good.

The conversation then moved on to Wizkid's fans begging him to drop the Morayo album, but Wizkid started teasing them. At one point, Wizkid asked one of the fans if it was by force.

Wizkid then proceeded to repost a video that was circulating online earlier. The video showed Davido on his knees begging someone (thought to be a lady) for something. Now, while Wizkid reposted this video, he told one of his fans: "Beg me like this and. Send video"

Davido did not waste time to reply Wizkid by posting a tirade tweet aimed at Wizkid; Davido dissed Wizkid's musical art and, most notably, said that when light comes, darkness vanishes.

Davido also challenged Wizkid to release his long-awaited Morayo album, Wizkid then continued the beef between him and Davido by calling the latter delusional, claiming he would pray for Davido and his team.

The beef continued that day, with Wizkid reposting the initial video again when he replying to Davido's claim that he and his team are not delusional. Wizkid reposted this with a laughing emoji, and Davido replied that he would not waste his time with someone whose career was resurrected a few years ago. Davido also attacked Wizkid's body size, calling him a size 7 and directing Wizkid to shop at Footlocker Kids.

Wizkid and Davido Beef: Celebrities and friends weigh in as beef escalates

Wizkid called Davido all sorts of unprintable names and the singer retaliated fiercely while he was backed up by his fans and friends like Israel DMW and Peruzzi.

Israel DMW, Davido's aide, stated that he used to like everything about Wizkid when he thought he was a human being. He called Wizkid "daft" while questioning the reason for his continuous jealousy and hatred for his boss.

Even Peruzzi, known as Davido's Songwriter, also replied to Wizkid, telling them to deny that he did not ask for his songwriting services.

Following these attacks, other Nigerian celebrities reacted; for instance, the popular actress Nkechi Blessing said the beef between Wizkid and David was about publicity as she suspects the duo is about to drop a hit together. However, Davido corrected her and used the same opportunity to shade Wizkid even more:

After the eventful 29th April 2024, when Wizkid and Davdo set social media ablaze, there was a bit of calm from April to June 2024 when Davido married Chioma. Fans from both sides edited pre-wedding photos and inserted Wizkid into the mix, prompting wizkid to tweet his infamous LOL reply.

As the year crept into October of 2024, Wizkid went on another tirade. Wizkid trolled Davido and his crew, repeating the derogatory term he had used earlier in April. Wizkid claimed Davido and his crew were releasing low-quality songs. Wizkid even tweeted the word 'Frogido,' which might reference Davido as he used that line on Davido during their early beef in 2014.

On the same October 1st, after the initial troll from Wizkid, Davido announced his endorsement deal with Puma. Following this tweet was a series of tweets and replies from Wizkid, which many saw as attacks on Davido.

Wizkid claimed that Puma had approached him first, but he rejected their offer as their budget for Africa was too small for him, which implied that Davido accepted an offer that Wizkid had rejected earlier.

Wizkid was persistent in his tweets against Davido; Wizkid also threw shades at Davido's uncle, who is popularly known as the dancing senator. Wizkid claimed you will never see his uncle dancing online. Wizkid threw shades at Davido's lawyer, asserting that Davido's lawyer follows Davido everywhere, but his own lawyer is too busy to do so. It never stopped there; Wizkid also pointed out that he dresses better than Davido and has more money than Davido.

Following this, on October 19th, Davido and his crew entered a Club and unfortunately Wizkid was in the same club, thus, Wizkid and his crew had to leave. Videos of this event surfaced online, reigniting the beef between Davido and Wizkid again.

This time around, Isreal DMW posted on his Instagram story claiming that Wizkid saw Davido and could not say a thing.

Wizkid refused to keep mute; according to him, Davido's crew saw him and started recording him because he was a bigger celebrity than their boss.

The fight continued, but Davido was surprisingly silent throughout this recent encounter, even as of January 2024.

Wizkid and Davido Beef: Conclusion

Wizkid FC and Davido fans are always at each other's throats. They make assumptions and judge any action taken by either Wizkid or Davido. For Wizkid FC, Wizkid can never do anything wrong, and his music is the best. Davido's fans are no different in this category.

The fanatical nature of this fandom is suspected to be the origin of the beef between Davido and Wizkid. Davido, during the interview with Ebuka, revealed that there was no issue between them, but it seems the market wants them to be at loggerheads with each other.

The above means the market is using the fanatical nature of Davido and Wizkid fans to their advantage. Truth be told, even Davido and Wizkid are not left out of this equation. Davido admitted during the same Ebuka interview that the beef between him and Wizkid makes them bigger. Even Wizkid quickly acknowledged that the attacks from influencers like Tunde Ednut were a free promotion for him.

Wizkid and Davido are aware that there is nothing like a bad controversy, they will probably not get to the position they are today if they were friends. The beef between Davido and Wizkid or any other artists is cyclic, so choose how you spend your time wisely, as there will always be something or people fighting each other in the music business.