Afrobeats queen Tiwa Savage has made a surprising revelation about one of the biggest records to ever come out of Mavin Records, the 2014 anthem “Dorobucci.”
Speaking in a recent interview on NotJustOk, the “Somebody’s Son” hitmaker confessed that she initially disliked the track when she first heard it, describing it as “a crap song.”
According to Tiwa, Mavin boss Don Jazzy had played an early version of Dorobucci while they were in Dubai for her wedding but her first impression was far from positive.
“Don’t know if people know this, but Don Jazzy played ‘Dorobucci’ in the hotel when we were in Dubai for my wedding, and honestly, I thought it was such a crap song,” she admitted.
Tiwa recalled being completely unimpressed with the unfinished version, only to have her opinion dramatically change after returning to Nigeria.
“When I got back to Nigeria and I got to the studio, and I heard the song that I heard him play in Dubai, I was flabbergasted. I was so angry because this had happened with Eminado too and I did not like it initially,” she said.
Despite her early reservations, Tiwa revealed that she was eventually convinced to record her part, though she was the last Mavin artist to do so even as her labelmates, including Korede Bello, Reekado Banks, and Di’Ja, were already hyped about the track.
“I was the last person to record my verse because I was looking at everybody like, ‘Do you guys really like this?’” she added, laughing.
In the end, Dorobucci turned out to be one of Mavin’s most iconic songs, dominating airwaves across Africa and becoming a cultural anthem that further solidified the label’s legendary status.
Reflecting on the song’s massive success, Tiwa couldn’t help but give props to Don Jazzy’s extraordinary creative instincts.
“We all know what happened to the record. I don’t know what Don Jazzy does, but yeah… I heard it and didn’t want to tell him. I was like, ‘Is it Reekado he’s doing this song for? Is it Korede or Di’Ja?’ Not knowing I would be on the song too — and it turned out phenomenal. Shoutout to Don Jazzy,” she concluded.
Tiwa’s confession adds a humorous twist to the backstory of one of Afrobeats’ biggest hits proving once again that sometimes, even the greatest stars can’t predict a hit when they first hear it.
