Davido’s Upcoming 'Five': A Strategic Rollout and Star-Artist Lineup

Davido is  ready to release his fifth studio project named "Five" which will be marketed as "5ive" bringing excitement within the music industry. His most recent album "Timeless" received massive success and so it is acclaimed that "Five" has the tendency of doing better also considering the fact that Davido declared this upcoming album "Five" as his "best album to date" while stating that his album will change a lot of lives.

The release of "Five" has been carefully designed by Davido through a sequence of pre-album songs that have purposefully built anticipation over time. The debut preview of "Awuke" emerged during late October 2024 when YG Marley teamed up with the Jamaican dancehall artist to present this track. Davido strategically chose to work with YG Marley as the grandson of reggae music legend Bob Marley to expand his global musical audience.  

In December 2024 "Funds" was released as the second single featuring Nigerian rap star Odumodublvck together with the soulful singer Chike. The track combines the eternal legacy of Brenda Fassie's "Vuli Ndlela" through sampling with contemporary elements of Afrobeats and R&B and pop music. 

The third track leading up to his album release was "Be There Still" which dropped in March 2025. In this recent music it can be seen that Davido  had  returned to his classic musical style on this track to create light-hearted rhythms while using his distinctive vocal delivery supported by Amapiano music. The talented DJ Maphorisa joined forces with Davido to co-produce "Be There Still"

The music album "Five" originally had a March 14th release date before its postponement to April 18th, 2025. When Davido released an official announcement about the album's release date change, he did not specify the reason behind the delay although this norm is common in the industry. Sometimes this type of postponement allows artists to refine their work and align their promotional strategies.  

The upcoming album "Five" showcases an extensive lineup of artists both from African and international music circles. 

The upcoming album features additional prominent artists beyond the already released singles with YG Marley, Odumodublvck, and Chike. Nigerian superstar Omah Lay has expressed that their upcoming project he had with Davido represents a "perfect partnership" while Adekunle Gold has said we should expect another hit just like the previous projects he had worked with Davido ;"High" and "1 Milli".

American recording artist Victoria Monet confirmed her participation in Davido's upcoming album after the Grammy event where they met. 

It is also confirmed that the sensational Jamaican singer Shenseea will appear on "Five" this feature will create a dynamic blend of music styles which will attract reggae fans to listen to davido.

The upcoming record "Five" will feature Victony together with DJ Maphorisa and Chris Brown along with Musa Keys and Becky G and 450Q.

Davido builds anticipation by providing private first listens of the upcoming album. He started in New York City, Davido hosted a private album preview party for industry officials along with what seemed to be special fans, notable personnel like DJ E Cool even joined Davido on stage during the New York event. Wizkid created this strategy for his Morayo album launch and people initially criticized it. Fans thought that playing parts of the song in advance would decrease audience interest once the album became available. The triumph of Morayo disproves this misconception making it an effective choice for Davido to follow.

Another listening session took place in Los-Angeles on the 6th of April. The listening party video that got released by fans that were opportune to attend shows Shenseea, Victoria Monet and other Davido solo music snippets, while some criticize how  the singer is using more of amapiano, others believe the music is top notch. 

one of Davido fans posted X "this guy always supriese everyone. Proper Jam, it is okay to be a hater but saying this is bad? then you are spoilt beyond repair"

The album's title "Five" represents Davido's fifth studio album. In an interview Davido stated his intention to abandon the thematic album titles, that he needed a title that he resonated with. Also Davido has been actively  promoting his album on X by posting pictures of top celebrities, president, Governors or any prominent person who raised and showed the had five. In each picture he always captions it. Five is coming. 

This is a strategic roll out because when someone sees the picture of his or her favourite celebrities holding out their hands Five and it being posted by Davido, he or she will anticipate the album thinking that his favourite celebrity endorsed it.

A good example is when he posted Ronaldo, with his mother and sister all holding up their hands showing five

And as expected most fans have reacted excitedly to it, some praise his album roll our, calling it a better strategy compared to wizkid and Burna Boy.

Conclusion

Davido Upcoming album roll out has been a success, although one might say it is too early to conclude. But when we consider the number of engagement he gets in each post relating to his new Album "Five" one can say it is a positive one.