Nigerian music heavyweight David Adeleke, the man the world knows simply as Davido, has made his return emphatically, dropping his first single of 2026, ‘I Know Who I Be,’ on Friday.
The track, available now across all major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music, arrives with the kind of heat that only a superstar who has something to prove can generate.
The release is more than just a new song. It is a statement.
In announcing the single on his official social media pages, Davido set the tone with a declaration that instantly sent fans into a frenzy: “The journey to the throne begins. My next single, “I Know Who I Be,” releases Friday, June 26th, 2026. “For an artist of his stature, those are not idle words; they are a gauntlet thrown down on the Afrobeats stage.
The single features a bold cross-border collaboration, pairing Davido with South African artists Jazzwrld and GL_Ceejay in what is being described as a high-energy, milestone moment for African music.
For Davido and Jazzwrld, it marks a first-ever musical pairing, one that fans and critics alike will be watching closely to see whether it delivers on its considerable promise.
The timing of the release is anything but accidental. Davido’s last solo release was ‘Be There Still,’ which dropped in March 2025, making this new single a long-awaited return to the forefront of the music conversation.
The intervening period has hardly been idle, however. He most recently appeared as a featured artist on TxC’s track Nakupenda and performed at the opening concert of the 2026 FIFA World Cup countdown series in Los Angeles, further cementing his international presence.
The announcement had generated significant buzz even before the song dropped, particularly because the singer had revealed in May that he intended to take a temporary break from making music, making the swift return all the more dramatic and deliberate.
Since bursting onto the scene with Dami Duro in 2012, Davido has established himself as one of Afrobeats’ most influential figures. Through acclaimed projects such as Omo Baba Olowo, A Good Time, A Better Time, and Timeless, he has helped drive the global rise of Nigerian music while building a loyal fan base across continents.
With “I Know Who I Be,” the question now is not whether Davido can still command the room; it is just how far this new chapter will take him. If the title of the song is any guide, he already knows the answer.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Davido is back. After over a year without a solo release, the Afrobeats superstar has kicked off 2026 with “I Know Who I Be,” a high-energy cross-border collaboration with South African artists Jazzwrld and GL_Ceejay.
