Davido's ORIADÉ is out: A ranking of the top 5 songs on first listen

Davido's sixth studio album, ORIADÉ, dropped today, July 31, 2026, via Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment. The title, drawn from the Yoruba words "ori", meaning head and "adé", meaning crown, translates loosely to "the crowned head," and Davido has been deliberate about the symbolism. 

The project coincides with the 15th anniversary of his music career and follows 5ive, his 2025 album that peaked at number two on the Billboard World Albums chart and reached number seven on the UK Albums chart. Where 5ive was expansive and globally minded, ORIADÉ is more compact, with 13 tracks, focused, and rooted in a return to his Afrobeats foundation. 

Features include Mayorkun, FOLA, Leon Thomas, and French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, among others. Here are five tracks that stand out on first listen.

The opening track does exactly what an intro should: it establishes the album's direction without overstaying its welcome. Built on crisp West African shakers and bouncing pop percussion, it is a concise, solo Afrobeats statement that signals Davido's intent for the project. It could have hit harder as the opener, but it earns its place and remains one of the more replayable cuts on the record.

Released as the lead single ahead of the album, the choice of this track as the project's first public statement makes sense. An Amapiano-infused Afrobeats record that bridges Nigerian vocal delivery with South Africa's dominant club sub-genre, it is a braggadocio anthem built around self-awareness and identity. It takes a listen or two to fully settle in, but once it does, it holds. It's the kind of record that rewards patience.

One of the more immediately enjoyable tracks on the album, and much of that credit belongs to its features. Mayorkun and Fola bring genuine energy to a mid-tempo Afrobeats and Afro-pop record structured for both radio and the dancefloor. 

It also marks the first major creative reunion between Davido and Mayorkun since the latter's departure from DMW in 2021, and the chemistry between them sounds entirely uninterrupted. The album carries its features well, and this track is the clearest evidence of that.

The album's most tender moment. A heartfelt Afro-R&B ballad dedicated to Davido's wife, it shifts the project's momentum deliberately, offering a stripped-back pocket between the club-friendly 'B4 B4' and the soulful 'Tell Everybody '. 

Davido has described it as a conceptual sequel to his 2018 hit 'Assurance', and the emotional thread between both records is audible. It does not try to do too much, which is precisely why it works.

The album's most accomplished crossover moment. Leon Thomas brings genuine contemporary R&B weight to the record, and the production is restrained enough to let both their sounds shine.

Neither sound overwhelms the other, which is harder to achieve than it appears on a collaboration of this kind. It sits comfortably as one of the project's strongest tracks and the one most likely to travel beyond the Afrobeats audience.

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