Davido Is The Most Influential Person From Nigeria Below The Age Of 40 — Asa Asika

Asa Asika, longtime manager of Nigerian music star Davido, has opened up about his relationship with the singer, describing their professional partnership as both exciting and deeply personal because of their longstanding friendship.

Asika spoke about his relationship with Davido during a recent appearance on 'The Manager’s Playbook', hosted by Mauricio Ruiz.

Shedding light on their work relationship, Asika revealed that it goes beyond the conventional manager-artiste arrangement because the two have known each other since childhood.

“Working with Davido is amazing. Like, it’s fun. Like, we’re breaking new records,” Asika said.

“And this is my childhood friend. So obviously for me it’s something where we know the goals we had for ourselves when we started and we’ve far surpassed it," he added.

The talent manager also explained that this shared history has made Davido’s career trajectory particularly meaningful to him, especially because the two have been able to achieve goals they once discussed when they were younger.

“So obviously it’s always something new and something exciting,” he said.

He also spoke about the trust required in their relationship, particularly when difficult decisions have to be made. According to Asika, a strong relationship between an artiste and manager requires the ability to have uncomfortable conversations rather than simply agreeing with everything the artiste wants.

“Being friends with these people is also very important to be able to be like, ‘Yo, you need to slow down on this. We need to change this,’” he said.

He described having “the hard conversations” as an important part of managing an artiste at Davido’s level.

He said he values mutual respect and believes managers should be able to challenge decisions when they believe something is heading in the wrong direction.

Asika also explained that he had sometimes been very direct with record labels when he disagreed with their decisions concerning Davido’s music.

“I’m a very vocal person,” Asika said, recalling situations where he had warned executives against making certain decisions about Davido’s releases.

He said there were occasions when he chose to listen to a label’s direction only to later realise that the strategy was moving in the wrong direction.

“I remember calling one of my mentors and being like, ‘Hey, man. I’m bowing down to what the label wants me to do right now, but it’s not going well.’ He’s like, ‘Then you’re not doing your job right now,’” Asika recalled.

The advice, he said, reminded him that his responsibility as a manager was to stand up for what he believed was right for the artiste. He stressed, however, that disagreement should not become disrespect.

“As much as I don’t believe in being disrespectful or being rude, there has to be a balance and there has to be mutual respect,” he said.

Asika also described Davido as one of Nigeria’s most influential public figures, particularly when measured through social media reach.

Using social media as his metric, he said Davido is “probably the most influential person from Nigeria below the age of 40.”

He also described the singer as “a walking billboard”, explaining that Davido’s visibility has made him attractive to major brands.

“I have emails from brands being like, ‘I just want David to hold this bottle for like 20 minutes or put it in his video,’” Asika shared.

According to him, the commercial interest in Davido has also influenced how the team approaches brand partnership, leading him to be selective about the brands associated with Davido because he wants the partnerships to feel authentic rather than forced.

“We’ve been able to finesse it,” he said, explaining that not every brand relationship needs to be a long-term endorsement deal.

He cited Davido’s collaboration with PlayStation around the release of the singer’s 5th studio album "5ive" as an example of a short-term partnership that made sense because of the connection between the brand and the album’s title.

Asika said the campaign involved changing the PlayStation 5 branding to reflect Davido’s "5ive" album and releasing promotional content around the album’s launch.

He also discussed Davido’s relationship with his home audience, arguing that international success should not result in an artiste becoming disconnected from the people who helped build the artiste’s career.

“I think it is important that no matter how big you get, you make time and you’re intentional about connecting with your fans who made you a superstar,” he said.

According to Asika, that philosophy informed the decision to take Davido on a major Nigerian tour, including performances outside Lagos.

Asika said the team organised five shows across Nigeria, describing it as the first proper Nigerian tour by an artiste of Davido’s level that extended beyond the usual Lagos-based performances.

“I did everything myself,” he said, explaining that The Plug handled the project independently.

The co-founder of The Plug noted that the success of the model subsequently created new opportunities for his touring business, including work with artistes he does not personally manage.