On Tuesday night, a little after eight, Davido called himself a free agent, three months after putting out an album he has since called his last with Sony Music. “FREE AGENT …. Time for the real RUN …. ACTIVE,” the post read, and it stopped there.
FREE AGENT …. Time for the real RUN …. ACTIVE
— Davido (@davido) October 27, 2026
He had been saying it in pieces since summer. Oriadé came out on July 31 through Sony Music UK and RCA Records, per NotJustOk, and days later he told viewers on Carter Efe’s livestream, “This is my last album with Sony… so I wanted to put my all into it.” On The Uncut Podcast he was blunter about where he started: “it was my last album with Sony so I just wanted to seal that deal.” Then, he said, the work took over. “Eventually, I now got into making the art, that I know this is my last album but let me do it well.” It is a short record, 13 songs, and The NATIVE’s review in August noticed how lean the rollout was next to the ones for 5IVE and TIMELESS.
He signed with Sony in 2016, and five albums came out in the years since: A Good Time, A Better Time, TIMELESS, 5IVE and Oriadé.
Those five are what his own words leave open. On The Long Form podcast, in comments reported on June 1, he put it plainly: “I have a good music contract. But the most important thing is ownership. I plan to get my master’s back from Sony soon.” He gave a reason too. He wants to hand each of his children songs they can keep earning royalties from after he retires.
The post answers none of that. It names no new label or distributor, says nothing about the masters, and doesn’t explain what “the real RUN” is. Neither Sony nor DMW had said anything publicly about it by this morning that we could find.
What he has booked is on stage. Oriadé: The Residency runs three nights at the National Theatre in Lagos from December 17 to 19, he plays the Mother Africa Festival in Abidjan, which runs December 27 and 28, and he ends the month at the Calabar Carnival on December 29.
His own post settles the free agent part. Who holds the five albums is a question only he and Sony can answer.