Law 7: GET OTHERS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU, BUT ALWAYS TAKE THE CREDIT

JUDGMENT
Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.
-Robert Greene, 48 laws of power

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
David Adedeji Adeleke was born into an affluent family. The Adelekes have amassed a large fortune from politics and business. Isiaka Adeleke, David’s uncle, was a one-time governor and a senator. Chief Adedeji Adeleke, David’s father is a wealthy business tycoon with an estimated net worth of $300 million. His huge fortune gotten from business ventures in steel, oil, gas and more; thus, when David decided to drop out of the US College he was attending, to pursue a career in music, his rich father was furious and even had him arrested at the airport when he returned to Nigeria with tattoos and piercings instead of the degree in business management he was sent to America to acquire.

After the incident, David, then still a teenager, reached a compromise with his father, which would let him attend a university close by and then after getting the business degree, he would be allowed to pursue his singing ambition. But soon after enrolling in the university which was only a couple of hours drive from Lagos, the entertainment hub of Africa, David began skipping classes and attending parties, shows and musical concerts in Lagos. Leveraging on his father’s wealth, David hobnobbed with established musicians and famous celebrities in the Nigerian entertainment industries, learning more about the trade and honing his musical skills. In 2011, by the time David was ready to release his first album, he did something quite remarkably different; using his rich pocket, he hired a couple of very good songwriters (a practice that was uncommon in the Nigerian music scene at that time) and paid them handsomely. He got himself experienced managers and worked with the best music producers to produce his songs. For his music videos, David hired the top, most sought after video directors that the other new artists of his level cannot afford. David also paid for a lot of publicity such that by the time his first album, “Omo Baba Olowo” — a Yoruba term translating to “the son of a rich man” dropped, his songs were top notch for a new entrant. One of his songs from the album, “Dami Duro” became an instant hit nationwide and became the dominant track on radio stations, clubs and parties.

David, now famously known as “Davido” continued the same path, and in no time, he became a superstar musician in Africa and one of the most influential entertainers of his time. He got his own record label, and his songs were featured on billboards and other music charts
around the world. He worked and featured in several world class hit songs and collaborated with some of the world’s biggest singers. In 2015, Davido featured American rapper Meek Mill in a song titled, “Fans Mi”. Following the song was a spectacular music video. Davido reportedly paid the American the sum of $200,000. He performs on grand stages globally, gets invited to perform at high class occasions, one of such was the wedding of A-list Hollywood actor, Idris Elba in 2019.

Davido’s personal life became the public’s cravings. He secured many endorsement and deals from several local and international brands; and in 2016, he signed a record deal with the world’s biggest music company, Sony Music. Davido has several other talented singers under him signed to his personal record label, Davido Music Worldwide (DMW), and many of these singers became superstars as well, while in the same vein, the shrewd David, employs them to write some of the most amazing songs for him.

Interpretation
At the time when Davido forayed into the Nigerian music scene, the industry was becoming saturated; and was being dominated by some other more successful artiste like D’banj, Wande Coal and the twin brothers, PSquare. These successful singers had actually been in the music industry for very long years and had earned their spot in the limelight before the saturation state. For Davido whose ambition is to reach the level of those successful artists, he had to face an even more difficult competition from his mates. Vocally, he was at the disadvantage; his voice, if anything, sounds strangled and as his vocals were not as good as that of his arch rivals. More also, most of his mates were signed by some of the most successful artists who have been grooming them for several years. Thus, to make up for his deficits and catch up faster, he had to take a smarter route — the hiring of songwriters and producers and getting himself a top-notch management, all of which he paid for handsomely. Davido’s actions were not by chance, but a careful and crafty design. “My business decisions are not by accident”, he stated in an interview. “I have a father who is a billionaire. When he tells me to make this move, I listen to him”. Many times, news media reportage comes up with tales about how this artist or that person wrote one or the other of Davido’s hit songs; these people are negligible, because in the end, it is Davido’s name and photo that adorns the covers of those songs and he gets paid huge sums to sing those songs at VIP parties. He takes the glory for those beautiful songs that even his father, who used to be against his son’s musical career at the outset, now dances heartily to Davido’s songs.

Only the unwise wastes their time and energy doing the work others can do for them. Davido’s remarkable success comes not from his musical prowess, but from his ingenuity of getting others to do the work for him while he takes the credit.

Takeaway Quote
“Time is precious and life is short. If you try to do it all on your own, you run yourself ragged, waste energy, and burn yourself out. It is far better to conserve your forces, pounce on the work others have done, and find a way to make it your own.”
-Robert Greene

Excerpts is from my book “Transgressions and and Observances of the 48 Laws of Power in Nigeria”
available on Amazon Kindle.
Find it on Amazon with the serial number: B09S3YZ465

NB: If you require a creative ghost writer for your memoirs, autobiographies, tell-all-tales, reach me via
email: serrickbytes@gmail.com

Truth has never been less said...

spidey77:
Truth has never been less said...

Thank you