'I was living alone with my dad in 16-bedroom mansion, I secretly built studio inside making music and smoking' — Davido

Davido, the Nigerian Afrobeats singer, recently shared a personal story about his teenage years living in a 16-bedroom mansion with his father, Dr. Deji Adeleke, a billionaire businessman.

According to Davido, after his mother passed away, he and his father were the primary occupants of the massive mansion in Lagos, while his older siblings studied abroad.

Davido described the mansion as feeling empty despite having staff, with his father's busy schedule leaving him largely alone. Davido set up a secret music studio in the mansion, where he would make music and smoke without his father's knowledge. When his father found out, he wasn't supportive of Davido's music career.

Davido eventually got tired of hiding his passion and fled to London to live with a producer friend for six months to pursue music. His family launched a massive search for him, with immigration officers, police, army, and other security agencies combing everywhere in Nigeria.

“I was living alone with my dad in a 16-bedroom mansion because all my siblings were in America. I had a studio in the house and he didn’t know. A complete studio where I spent most of my time making music and smoking.

“I left the mansion for about six months. My dad was looking for me, the army, Immigration officers, every security agency in Nigeria was looking for Dr. Deji Adeleke’s son, which is me.

“Eventually, I got caught at the airport on my way back from London, where I have been staying with a producer friend making music.

“When I returned to Nigeria, I wasn’t planning to go home. I landed at the airport with the intention to go to a friend’s place, but the moment I stepped out, an army officer walked up to me and escorted me outside," he stated.