Davido, Praiz Bag Mega Deals

Two of Nigeria’s hip-hop rising stars, David Adeleke a.k.a. Davido and Praise Adejo a.k.a. Praiz, have inked multi-million naira endorsement deals with two of Nigeria’s leading telecommunication companies, MTN and Etisalat.

The deal was sealed last week with the unveiling of the two stars at different events in Lagos. Davido was unveiled as the face of MTN Pulse at Club Vegas, Ikeja, Lagos, in a new marketing campaign targeted towards Nigerian youths, while Praiz, 2008 finalist of MTN Project Fame, was unveiled by the rival telecoms company, Etisalat, as the Face of Easy Cliq, at an exclusive party held at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos.

The two telecoms companies failed to release the figure around the deal, but Showbiz Trends learnt Praiz’s deal was said to be a multi-million naira deal and a source close to Davido said his own deal worth around N30million.

Davido’s deal includes concert appearances for MTN Pulse, as well as other extras. He has already shot a television commercial currently running on major television stations across the country.

Praiz has also done a new official song for the network provider.

Kola Oyeyemi, General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, said MTN Pulse which used to go under the name MTN FunLink, needed a face for the youths and Davido best fits their description.

It’s been an amazing year so far for Davido. Though music fans were introduced to his music in 2011 with his debut single Back When featuring Naeto and his stint on Sauce Kid’s Carolina, it was his second single Dami Duro and his onstage antics that have catapulted him into new heights in 2012.

—Funsho Arogundade