What Daniel Regha said about Davido’s “5ive” album

Social media critic, Daniel Regha has delivered a scathing review of Afrobeats superstar Davido’s newly released album, “5ive,” rating it a dismal 2/10 despite its high-profile collaborations and production quality.

In his detailed critique shared on his X account on Friday, Regha dismissed several tracks, including the collaboration with Omah Lay as particularly disappointing. “‘With You’ ft. Omah Lay is a fumbled collab, literally nothing to speak of,” Regha stated bluntly.

READ ALSO: Davido finally delivers 17-track album ‘5ive’

The critic also took aim at Davido’s partnership with American R&B artist Chris Brown on “Titanium,” claiming the duo “wasn’t really on the same page” and dismissing the track as “basically the same as ‘Anything’.”

Regha reserved particularly harsh criticism for Davido’s lyrical abilities, describing the artist as having “terrible writing/rhyming skills.”

He specifically cited examples from the tracks “R&B” and “Don’t Know,” pointing to lyrics like “Wheel-barrow” and “Toy-toy-toy” as evidence of poor wordplay.

The critic also questioned the authenticity of certain themes in the album, particularly in the track “CFMF” where he noted, “the ‘face me, I face you’ reference couldn’t be less accurate, since his rich background is no news,” referring to Davido’s well-known wealthy family background.

On social issues, Regha accused Davido of promoting harmful attitudes in the track “10 Kilo,” stating that “‘Orọbọ’ is a discriminatory word that conveys ridicule” and suggesting the song promotes body shaming.

Despite his overwhelmingly negative assessment, Regha did acknowledge some strategic decisions that prevented the album from being a complete failure. “Davido was smart with his choice of Int’l collabs, as much as these collabs aren’t hits, it saves the album from being a total fl@p,” he conceded.

The critic concluded that while the album benefits from “Davido’s signature sound and hype” and features “great beats,” it ultimately “offers nothing new” in terms of lyrical content, ending his review with a terse “No offense.”

This harsh critique comes at a time when Davido’s “5ive” has been generating significant buzz in the music industry, highlighting the often divisive nature of music criticism in the streaming era.