In June 2024, legendary highlife musician Mike Ejeagha returned to the spotlight after skit maker ‘Brain Jotter’ featured ‘Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo’, a segment from his 41-year-old track ‘Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche’, in one of his comedy skits.
Eleven months later, history repeats itself, this time involving singer Davido and highlife icon Bright Chimezie.
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Much like Ejeagha, Chimezie is enjoying a resurgence in popularity, seven years after the release of his album ‘Because of English’, all thanks to Davido.
Davido on Wednesday revealed that his viral hit ‘With You’ featuring ‘Omah Lay’ was inspired by Chimezie’s ‘Because of English’ released in 2018.
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‘With You’, a track from Davido Adeleke’s fifth studio album, ‘5ive’, released on 18 April through Davido Music Worldwide, Columbia Records, and Sony Music Entertainment.
The 32-year-old said this in posts shared on his Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) pages, respectively.
On his Instagram Story, Davido posted a video of a FaceTime call with Chimezie.
In the video, he expressed his eagerness to meet the veteran musician and thanked him for his influence.
“The latest hit I just did with Omah Lay, I used inspiration from your song, ‘Because of English’. Yes, of course, I told them to play it for you. It’s trending everywhere, the whole world.
“I’m still around for a bit, so I was telling them maybe we will get you to come to Lagos so we can meet. It would be nice. God bless you, sir, and make sure you listen to the song tonight,” Davido said in the video.
‘Because of English’
Chimezie, 64, released ‘Because of English’, a track from his 2018 album, ‘Because of English’.
The song was one of the standout tracks on the album, which made a notable impact on the music scene due to Chimezie’s distinctive fusion of traditional music, Igbo highlife, and chanted vocals.
Meanwhile, dismissing Davido’s inspiration as anything other than sampling would be difficult.
His verse, “If I speak English, oh-oh, Cho-cho-cho, no working, I no wan punish, woah, woah. I want to punish you, idiarabanko”—can easily be interpreted as a sample or a direct nod to Chimezie’s original lyrics.
Sampling in music refers to reusing a portion of an existing recording in a new composition.
In this context, it can be argued that Davido sampled Chimezie’s song.
This is especially evident when Chimezie, in his
track, recounted how his teacher flogged him for failing to express himself in English, following the enforcement of a ‘no vernacular speaking’ policy.
He also sang about how he was punished for struggling with the English language.
Some of Chimezie’s lyrics go thus, “English, eh, because of English, eh, my teacher punishes me, oh, English, eh.”
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Chimezie
However, Chimezie, renowned for songs addressing societal issues such as colonialism, economic exploitation, and cultural identity, vibed to Davido’s track.
The ‘Respect Africa’ hitmaker shared a video on his Instagram page on Thursday, showing himself dancing to the song outside his house.
Chimezie, also known as Okoro Junior, who introduced his Zigima Movement to the music scene with his debut album ‘Respect Africa’, said, “Davido, do you know something? You can see I’m already vibing to this song, With You. It’s a beautiful piece of work, wonderful.
“I appreciate that you said you drew inspiration for this song from Because of English, a track I recorded many years ago. I appreciate you for that, and Cubana Chief Priest, yagaziera gi, nwannem.”
