Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido names Rihanna as his dream collaborator but fears her focus on Fenty Beauty blocks any music link-up.
Davido, the Nigerian Afrobeats superstar, named Rihanna as his dream international collaborator during a live stream interview on Twitch with host @Theboyfromojo.
“Rihanna is my dream collab, but she’s not into music again. She makes billions from her makeup business now,” the singer disclosed. Davido acknowledged his admiration for Rihanna, noting that a collaboration between them would make “dope music.”
The “I Know Who I Be” crooner expressed uncertainty about the collaboration happening anytime soon, saying Rihanna remains highly focused on her Fenty Beauty and fashion businesses rather than recording new music.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports the two artists share a mutual respect, with Rihanna having been very vocal about her appreciation for Davido’s catalog, once declaring his hit track “Unavailable,” featuring Musa Keys, as her favorite song and having it on repeat.
Rihanna, who last released a full studio album with “Anti” in 2016, has built a business empire primarily through Fenty Beauty. Davido’s remarks place her music withdrawal in sharp relief against a decade of commercial dominance in beauty and fashion, a gap the singer clearly does not expect to close quickly.
As gathered by Westtrybe, the admiration runs in both directions. Rihanna has been very vocal about her appreciation for Davido’s catalog, a fact that Davido has not taken lightly.
When Rihanna publicly declared “Unavailable” her favorite song and had it on repeat, Davido playfully referred to her as “my Ri Ri” in response, a moment that drew wide attention from fans tracking the mutual respect between the two global acts.
Davido has already collaborated with several international artists, including Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Lil Baby, and DaBaby, a track record that underlines the global reach of his music.
Yet, as gathered by Westtrybe, none of those partnerships carried the weight of anticipation that surrounds the hypothetical Rihanna link-up among his fanbase.
The “I Know Who I Be” crooner expressed uncertainty about the collaboration happening anytime soon. According to him, Rihanna is highly focused on her Fenty Beauty and fashion businesses rather than recording new music. That assessment tracks with the public record.
Rihanna, who last released a full studio album with “Anti” in 2016, has built a business empire primarily through Fenty Beauty.
But Davido did not close the door entirely. His description of what the record would sound like, “dope music,” signals that the idea lives in active imagination, not just passive wishful thinking.
He acknowledged his admiration for Rihanna and noted clearly that a collaboration between them would make “dope music,” a phrase that, brief as it is, carries the weight of a specific creative vision.
Davido made the remarks during a live stream on Twitch with host @Theboyfromojo, a platform that has increasingly become a space where Nigerian artists speak candidly about creative ambitions and business calculations beyond what formal press interviews typically yield.
As gathered by Westtrybe, the Saturday interview drew attention across entertainment circles in Nigeria, partly because Davido framed the Rihanna conversation not as flattery but as a concrete assessment of creative chemistry set against a clear commercial reality: the artist he most wants to record with is the one least likely to return to a recording studio.
Rihanna is highly focused on her massively successful Fenty Beauty and fashion businesses rather than recording new music, Davido confirmed, and that candid reading of her current priorities may be the most honest explanation any artist has offered for why the long-speculated Rihanna music comeback has yet to materialize, even as fans worldwide continue to press for it.
