The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan has given Nigerian singer David Adeleke, popularly called Davido, 21 days to appear to answer charges of intellectual property theft.
According to legal filings obtained by Peak Newspaper Nigeria, the lawsuit was filed by four Nigerian artistes—Martins Chukwuka Emmanuel, Abel Great Umaru, Kelvin Ayodele Campbell, and David Ovhioghena Umaru.
They accused Davido of stealing their 2022 song ‘Work.’ The plaintiffs claim that Davido used their song to create his own track, titled ‘Strawberry on Ice,’ released in 2024.
Davido is named in the suit alongside Emmerson Amidu Bockarie (professionally known as Emmerson), who was featured on Davido’s song, as well as Carlos Jenkins, Matthew Quinney, Marques Miles II, and Wynn Records, the agency responsible for publishing and distributing “Strawberry on Ice.”
