Davido’s ‘A Better Time’ Thrills Fans, Reignites ‘Best Nigerian Artist’ Debate

Nigerian popstar Davido has released his highly-anticipated third studio album ‘A Better Time’ to the elation of his fans and more muted responses from casual listeners.

The feature list on the 17-track album reads like a who’s who of the music industry, with international stars Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, Nas, Lil Baby and Young Thug all making an appearance, along with Nigerian and African stars including Tiwa Savage, Sauti Sol, Mayor Kun and Bella Shmurda.

The album has reached the number one spot on the Nigeria iTunes top albums chart, with Davido joining Wizkid and Burna Boy as the only Nigerian acts to earn multiple top 10 albums on US iTunes, according to Chart Data.

Two hours after the album’s release at midnight on Friday, Davido sent out this fairly jubilant tweet: “Worked so hard on ABT !! Lemme know what tracks y’all love!! THANK YOU FOR THE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!! IM SO HAPPY!!!”

The album was lauded by his fans, who praised the album’s production and catchy hits on Twitter.

One user, @omojuwa said: This is quite a generous album. Davido splashed hits all over #ABetterTime. Could easily have been two albums. It doesn’t need to grow on you, quick fire hits. I expect loads of videos.

Another fan, @Falilatt wrote: Davido doesn’t make “It will grow on you” type of song, it’s a first listen hit with a replay value. Indeed King David.”

Rapper Ycee simply said, “Davido take a bow! A Better Time aptly named.”

‘A Better Time’ is a follow-up to last year’s smash hit, ‘A Good Time.’ Streamed over a billion times around the world, it was a massive breakout success that helped cement his status as a global star.

Conversations ignited around which artist was best deserving of the ‘King of Afrobeats’ title, with Davido, Wizkid and Burna Boy vying for that particular crown.

All three have now released full-length albums this year, with Burna’s staggering ‘Twice as Tall’ released in August and Wizkid’s latest offering ‘Made in Lagos’ coming as recent as two weeks ago.

Unsurprisingly, those conversations erupted again with A Better Time’s release. The hashtags #AfricanGiant, #MILAlbumoftheYear and #CarpeDiem (rapper Olamide’s album and firm fan favorite) became top trends on Twitter, just some of many Davido-related trends to take over the platform on Friday.

“Davido’s Album is good, he really worked hard on it but MIL is better and greater than it. ##MILAlbumoftheYear” one tweet read.

“Davido’s a bettter time >> Wizkid’s made in Lagos. Don’t chat to me,” another insisted.

“Davido made an album Nigerians could relate to, Wizkid on the other hand gave us something to cool off after protesting. But TWICE AS TALL carried us throughout the year. Album of the year material.”

But some users urged fans to take advantage of the rise of Afropop globally and enjoy the music from Nigeria’s most successful artists.

“2020 might not have been all that but music wise, we truly have been blessed. It will remain in history that Olamide, Wizkid, Davido and Burna gave us albums in the same year, albums with hits. God bless these men for an amazing music year,” @_Teewo wrote.

And @hezzalion said, “At the end of the day, Wizkid, Olamide, Davido and Burna all delivered. Their albums were top notch. 2020 despite everything that happened was a good year for afrobeats.”

Rita Osakwe

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