Nigerian superstar Davido has officially released the music video for With You, his chart-topping collaboration with Omah Lay—and it features a surprise cameo by highlife legend Bright Chimezie, whose work inspired the hit track.
Shot in Lagos and directed by Dammy Twitch, the With You video premiered on Monday and has already surpassed one million views in just over 24 hours.
It was produced by Polar Films Production and features scenes of youthful revelry, with Davido and Omah Lay at the centre of a celebratory, party-like setting.
Chimezie appears midway through the video donning a Hamlet-style cap and a white bead necklace, performing his signature dance moves—mirroring the earlier viral clip in which he acknowledged Davido’s sampling of his song ‘Because of English.’
Cubana Chief Priest also makes a brief appearance.
The visual tribute honours its highlife roots. In a particularly heartwarming scene, Chimezie mimics Davido’s dance steps, a gesture many fans say captures the spirit of artistic respect and cultural continuity.
Chimezie’s ‘Because of English’—which lends thematic and rhythmic inspiration to With You—is one of the standout tracks from the highlife veteran’s eponymous 2018 album.
The song recounts a childhood experience where a schoolteacher punished him for not speaking English, highlighting wider issues of linguistic marginalisation.
“The latest hit I just did with Omah Lay, I used inspiration from your song, Because of English,” Davido told Chimezie in a now-viral FaceTime exchange, weeks before their physical meeting. “It’s trending everywhere, the whole world.”
Chimezie, visibly elated, responded, “Okay, that would be wonderful, that would be nice,” as Davido expressed his desire to meet him in Lagos to show appreciation.
That meeting eventually happened on 19 May in Lagos, where the two artistes connected in person—a symbolic convergence of two generations of Nigerian music.
Shortly after, Chimezie landed a deal with Sony Music Publishing West Africa, a development many have linked to the renewed attention from Davido’s public tribute.
The renewed interest in Chimezie was recently amplified by content creator Dikeh Dikeh, whose comic reenactment of Chimezie’s reaction to Davido’s song also went viral in May, further boosting the legend’s relevance among Gen Z audiences.
Davido’s With You is one of 17 tracks on his fifth studio album, 5ive,
The singer is also preparing for his “5ive Alive” tour scheduled to kick off in July.
Chimezie, who launched his musical career in 1984 with Respect Africa and followed up with albums like Life of Yesterday and Message Boy, remains one of the enduring voices in Igbo highlife.
