The First Solo Leap (Davido UK Tour, 2013)
A Gospel of Afrobeats story
In 2013, I had been in the game for six years.
Most of that time had been spent learning. Serving my pupillage under Cokobar.
Understanding how shows are structured, where risk lives, how trust is built, and how easily things can go wrong.
I knew how to work inside a system.
I had not yet built one of my own.
Then came Davido.
He was 20. Hungry. Hard working. Gracious. Already a star in Nigeria, but Afrobeats itself was still negotiating space in the UK.
This would be his first major UK show.
And it would be my first solo show without partners.
Stepping out alone is different from working inside a structure. The risk feels personal.
And I was scared.
This industry is not soft. Critics are everywhere. When you step out alone, there is no one else to absorb the blow if it fails. I did not want to let myself down. I did not want to let Davido down.
Imposter syndrome is real when you move from supporting to leading. You question whether you are ready. Whether the timing is right. Whether the room will answer.
We had tried to make the show happen before. It stalled. Timing. Logistics. Readiness. Almost becomes familiar if you let it.
But this time felt different.
We announced in January for September. A long runway. Intentional build. A press conference months in advance. Davido flew in from America just to announce it.
That level of commitment matters.
Hunger recognises hunger.
Underneath the fear, there was clarity. I knew it would work. Not arrogance. Not hype. Conviction.
There are moments where the noise quiets and something inside you settles. For me, that felt spiritual. I believed God would honour the work.
So we moved.
UK SOLD OUT CONCERT PROMOTERS SMADE present: DAVIDO OBO UK TOUR 2013.
London INDIGO2.
Sunday 15th September.
Hosted by Eddie Kadi.
I worked closely with Billy Que B, someone I had collaborated with before. Independence does not mean isolation. You do not burn bridges to prove you can stand alone.
I also booked UK-based Afrobeats talent alongside Davido. Mista Silva. Lola Rae. Mo Eazy. YFS. Sona.
The bridge must move in both directions.
This was not just London.
We toured. Birmingham. Liverpool. Manchester. Nottingham. Coventry.
At the time, Afrobeats outside London was still a question mark. There was no guarantee the cities would respond.
That uncertainty was real.
London filled.
The cities showed up.
And something shifted.
Demand is not only discovered. It is created.
Taking Davido outside London did more than provide access. It built proof. It showed that the genre could travel. That it could hold rooms beyond one postcode.
In 2013, I was 28.
That night at INDIGO2 did not end my apprenticeship. It changed my posture.
Up until then, I had been learning how the machine worked. After that, I understood I could build the machine.
The lesson shifted from “learn” to “lead.”
Not because critics disappeared.
But because I stopped letting them define my ceiling.
The fear was real.
The conviction was stronger.
That was 2013.
In 2024, Davido sold out The O2 Arena.
I was backstage.
The room was full. Cameras. Congratulations. The scale was different now.
He saw me. Shook my hand.
“SMADE, SMADE.”
Then he turned to the room and said,
“SMADE did my first ever show in the UK.”
Someone asked, “When?”
He said,
“When the year nobody wanted to.”
For a moment, everything collapsed.
INDIGO2.
The press conference in January.
The tour bus.
The doubt.
The almosts.
The fear.
It all lived inside that sentence.
Standing there, watching Afrobeats fill The O2, I realised how far the culture had travelled.
In 2013, we were still explaining the genre. Still testing cities. Still building belief room by room.
By 2024, the arena was singing the songs back.
That distance was not created by one artist. Or one promoter. Or one show.
Culture moves together.
It moves through shared risk. Shared belief. Shared effort.
No one carries it alone.
You build in small rooms. You tour uncertain cities. You take chances when it is still uncomfortable. And slowly, collectively, something grows.
People see The O2.
They do not see the early rooms.
The early risk.
The early conviction.
Growth is not accidental. It compounds.
Belief compounds.
Reputation compounds.
Relationships compound.
You do the work when it is quiet.
Years later, the room is louder.
Dr. King SMADE
Journal Entry
London, UK, February
