Nigerian star Davido, real name David Adedeji Adeleke, was in Rwanda on March 3 to perform as part of his “30 Billion Africa Tour.”

However, the show was almost ruined by rain. The singer posted on social media that he was going to put on a great performance, but Mother Nature had different plans.

It rained throughout the day but later, the drizzle stopped and organisers worked around the clock to ensure that the stage was set.

The show, which was held outside Amahoro National Stadium, began around 10pm, forcing curtain raisers like Riderman, Yvan Buravan and Charly and Nina to rush through their songs.

Davido, got on the stage a few minutes to midnight, but like his song Fall, the singer missed a step and fell flat on the stage as his management and security scrambled to get him up.

The singer however gathered himself and continued performing like nothing had happened. He began the performance with one of his breakout hits from 2012 Dami Duro, which got the largely youthful crowd excited.

The If star performed with his band, but was largely assisted by DJ ECool, real name Ebianga Ikpeme, in what was a semi-live performance. DJ ECool is an Atlanta-based DJ and producer who is also the official DJ for Davido.

Like most current artistes, who are made in the studio and not on the stage, Davido avoids giving his fans a 100 per cent live performance, opting instead to be assisted by a DJ. However, the hoarse-voiced singer sung most parts of the songs and tried to engage the crowd.

Admittedly, at a press conference upon his arrival, Davido said that while he is not the most talented artiste on the continent, he is currently the biggest artiste in Africa.

Little time to rehearse

Having arrived in the country the evening before the concert, there was little time for him to rehearse, but it did not stop him from firing up the crowd.

On the day he arrived, Davido went straight to one of Kigali’s top spots Papyrus and then in the morning visited a music school in Muhanga in the Southern Province.

Davido addressed the aspiring young musicians and made a donation of $5,000 to the school before heading back to Kigali. There was literally no time to prepare for the show or rehearse with the band. And in such circumstances, the DJ is the one who saves the show.

It was evident that Davido tried to have fun as he performed, although the DJ had to cover for him when he took a breather, went off rhythm or got lost in the crowd.

Davido sung most of his songs in ascending order starting with those that made him the powerhouse he is today such as Gobe, Ekuro, Tchelete, which is his collaboration with South Africa’s Mafikizolo, Africa Rising and Dodo. He also asked his favourite Rwandan artiste Jay Polly to join him on stage.

The crowd thrilled by Davido's songs. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA | NATION

The Rwandan rapper performed his song Ku Musenyi with Davido and told fans that there is something in the pipeline coming from “Kigali to Lagos.”

Davido also performed more songs including Bahd Baddo Baddest, his collaboration with Falz the Bahd Guy and Olamide; Fans Mi, his collaboration with American rapper Meek Mill, The Money, which he did with Olamide and Ada before singing his biggest hits Aye, Skelewu, Fall, Fia and concluding the show with mega hit If. The show ended at 1:30am.

The star came to Rwanda courtesy of a partnership between US label Sony Music — which he is signed to — and RFI Musique for the “30 Billion Africa Tour.” In Rwanda the label worked with local production house Isaano.

According to Judo Kanobana — the head of production and events at Isaano— the “30 Billion Africa Tour” only features Rwanda in East Africa and will next see Davido perform in Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Republic, Niger and Senegal.