Davido Says No Nigerian Artist Has More Hits Than Him — Is He Really Right?

That is why Davido's latest statement caught my attention.

On August 12, 2026, the Afrobeats superstar challenged Nigerian artists to a hit-for-hit battle and reportedly put $1 million on the line. His position was as bold as the challenge itself: he believes no Nigerian artist has more hit songs than him.

Now, that is not the kind of statement Nigerian music fans will simply read and move on from.

Immediately, the questions begin.

Is Davido really Nigeria's biggest hitmaker? Does his catalogue truly contain more hits than those of other Nigerian music giants? And if we are going to settle the argument, what exactly should we count as a hit?

For me, that last question is where the conversation becomes much more interesting.

I remember when Davido became impossible to ignore. Songs like “Dami Duro,” “Aye,” “Skelewu,” “The Money,” “If,” “Fall,” “FIA” and “Assurance” became part of the sound of their time. These were not songs people simply heard and forgot. They were played at parties, weddings, clubs, on the radio and everywhere people gathered to enjoy music.

But what has always stood out to me about Davido is that he did not stop after getting his first major breakthrough.

He kept going.

He released more songs. He collaborated with different artists. He moved with changing trends. He experimented with different sounds and continued finding ways to remain relevant as the Nigerian music industry grew into a global force.

And when I look at his career that way, I understand why he feels confident enough to make such a huge claim.

Because Davido is not presenting one successful song as evidence.

He is presenting years of work.

He is presenting a catalogue.

But then again, there is a problem with the word “hit.”

What exactly makes a song a hit?

Is it the number of streams? Is it how high the song climbed on the charts? Is it radio airplay? Is it international recognition? Is it the amount of money the song generated? Or is it simply whether people still remember the song years after it was released?

I think all of these things matter, but none of them tells the complete story.

A song can have millions of streams and still lose its place in people's memories after a few years. Another song might not have broken every streaming record, yet the moment it plays at a Nigerian wedding ten years later, everybody suddenly remembers the lyrics.

That, to me, is another definition of a hit.

A real hit becomes part of people's memories.

It reminds you of a particular period in your life. It reminds you where you were, who you were with and what was happening when the song became popular.

That is why I don't think this debate can be settled by statistics alone.

Davido certainly has a strong case.

His 2017 song “Fall” became one of his biggest international successes and helped reinforce the growing global attention around Nigerian music. His catalogue has continued to expand with songs such as “Unavailable,” “Feel” and “Funds,” showing that his appeal has not depended entirely on the records that made him famous years ago.

That longevity is important.

Music changes.

Listeners change.

Trends change.

Even the way people discover music has changed dramatically.

Yet Davido has managed to remain part of the conversation through different eras.

That is not an easy thing to achieve.

Still, I would not rush to declare him the undisputed winner because Nigeria has produced too many great hitmakers.

And this is where I think fans will always disagree.

One person may value international success. Others may care more about songs that defined an era. Someone else may count the number of major singles an artist has released, while another person may simply choose the songs that have the strongest emotional meaning to them.

And honestly, I understand all of those arguments.

Music is personal.

When we argue about our favourite artists, we are sometimes not defending numbers at all.

We are defending memories.

That is also why Davido's $1 million challenge is so entertaining.

He has taken what could have been an ordinary debate among music fans and turned it into a competition.

His message is essentially simple: if you believe your catalogue is stronger than mine, come and prove it.

And once money is attached to that challenge, the conversation becomes even louder.

Already, reactions have started coming from other entertainers, including Portable, who claimed that he has more hits than Davido.

And that is exactly how these things work.

One person makes a bold statement.

Another person responds.

Fans pick sides.

Old songs begin circulating again.

People start creating their own hit lists.

Before long, everybody has an opinion.

But while people are busy arguing over who has the bigger catalogue, I find myself thinking about something else.

There is a bigger lesson hidden inside all of this.

Davido did not build his career around one hit.

He built it by continuing to create.

One successful song became another opportunity. One collaboration led to another. One album created more conversations. One successful period of his career opened the door to another.

Eventually, all those individual achievements became something much more valuable.

A catalogue.

And I think that is a lesson that goes far beyond music.

Look at what happens online today.

So many people are chasing one viral video.

One viral article.

One viral tweet.

One successful product.

One lucky opportunity.

There is nothing wrong with wanting a breakthrough. Everybody wants that moment when their work suddenly reaches thousands or even millions of people.

But what happens after the viral moment?

If there is nothing else behind it, the attention can disappear just as quickly as it arrived.

That is why I believe building a catalogue is a much smarter long-term strategy.

And the beautiful thing is that you do not need a record label, expensive equipment or a huge office to start building one.

You can begin with the smartphone already in your hand.

Think about the knowledge you already have.

Maybe you know how to cook.

Maybe you understand fashion.

Maybe you are good at writing.

Maybe you know how to use certain apps or online tools.

Maybe you understand business, parenting, farming, entertainment, education, technology or another subject that people constantly ask you about.

There may already be something valuable inside your knowledge that somebody else needs.

You can turn that knowledge into useful articles, short videos, ebooks, guides, tutorials, templates or other digital products.

And no, your first piece does not have to become a viral sensation.

It may only attract a few readers.

Your first video may only get a handful of views.

Your first digital product may only have one customer.

That does not necessarily mean you have failed.

It may simply mean you have created the first piece of your catalogue.

Then you create another.

And another.

And another.

Over time, those individual pieces can begin working together.

A useful article can bring someone to your website.

That person may discover another article.

They may follow you on social media.

They may subscribe to your newsletter.

They may eventually buy an ebook, template or digital product you created.

Suddenly, what looked like one small piece of content becomes part of a much bigger system.

That is the part of digital business that I think many people overlook.

They are looking for one big payday when they should be thinking about building several useful assets.

One article may bring you traffic.

Another may bring you search visibility.

A video may introduce people to your brand.

An ebook may generate income.

A digital product may solve a problem for customers while you are working on something else.

That is the power of building a catalogue.

And unlike a traditional product sitting on a shelf, digital content can continue working long after you have published it.

A good article can still bring readers months later.

A useful video can continue attracting views.

An ebook can continue selling.

A helpful tutorial can continue answering the same question for new people.

That means the work you create today does not necessarily stop being useful tomorrow.

This is why I would rather encourage someone to build ten useful pieces of content than spend all their energy trying to make one piece go viral.

Of course, going viral can help.

But consistency gives you something that virality alone cannot always provide.

It gives you depth.

It gives your audience more reasons to stay.

And it gives your work a better chance of creating value over time.

In many ways, that is what I see when I look at Davido's career.

The individual songs matter, but the catalogue is what makes the career so powerful.

One hit can make people notice you.

A strong catalogue can make people remember you.

And that distinction is important.

So, is Davido really right that no Nigerian artist has more hits than him?

My honest answer is that he has a very strong argument, but I don't think anyone can prove the claim beyond debate.

There is no universal formula for counting hits.

If we consider longevity, commercial success, cultural impact, international recognition and the ability to repeatedly release songs that connect with audiences, Davido clearly belongs among Nigeria's biggest hitmakers.

But Nigerian music has produced too many legends for the answer to be completely straightforward.

And perhaps that is what makes this whole conversation so fascinating.

Davido's statement has made people revisit music from different periods of their lives. It has encouraged fans to compare catalogues. It has reminded people of songs they have not heard in years.

In the process, it has also reminded me of something I think applies to almost everything we do in life.

Don't build your life around one hit. Build a catalogue.

Write the article.

Make the video.

Create an ebook.

Learn the skill.

Build the product.

Publish the next piece.

Then do it again.

Your first attempt may not change your life.

Your second may not either.

But if you keep creating useful things, those small efforts can eventually become something much bigger than any one of them.

That is why, when I look beyond the noise surrounding Davido's $1 million challenge, I see something more valuable than a debate about who has the most hit songs.

I see a lesson about consistency, longevity and accumulated success.

Davido may have started a conversation about music, but the principle behind his career applies to anyone trying to build something meaningful.

Whether you are an artist, blogger, content creator, entrepreneur or someone simply trying to create an income stream from your smartphone, don't spend all your energy chasing one big moment.

Build something people can keep coming back to.

Build something useful.

Build something memorable.

And most importantly, keep building.

Because sometimes, your greatest advantage is not the one big thing you create.

It is the collection of valuable things you refused to stop creating.

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