Tiwa Savage Admits She Initially Disliked Mavin’s Smash Hit “Dorobucci”
Afrobeats superstar Tiwa Savage has revealed that she wasn’t impressed by the Mavin Records hit Dorobucci when she first heard it – a song that would later become one of the label’s biggest anthems.
Speaking in a recent interview with NotJustOk, the singer recounted how producer Don Jazzy first played the early version of the track while they were in Dubai for her wedding. At the time, she said she had no idea it was part of a new Mavin project and quietly thought the song “sounded terrible.”
“I don’t know if people know this, but Don Jazzy was playing the beat in our hotel during my wedding in Dubai. I didn’t want to tell him, but I thought it was such a terrible song,” Tiwa confessed.
After the wedding, Don Jazzy urged her to fly back to Nigeria to record what he described as an important project. Though she was still on her honeymoon, Tiwa eventually returned to the studio – only to discover that the song had evolved into something special.
“When I got back and heard the final version, I was shocked,” she said. “It sounded completely different from what I’d heard earlier.”
Even then, the singer remained skeptical and was the last of the Mavin All Stars to record her verse. “Everyone else had already done theirs, and I was just there thinking, ‘Do you guys really like this?'” she recalled with a laugh.
Tiwa also admitted that Dorobucci wasn’t the only hit she doubted at first. She revealed that she initially disliked Eminado too – another record that later became a massive success.
Reflecting on those moments, Tiwa praised Don Jazzy’s creative vision, crediting his ability to turn unconventional ideas into chart-topping records. “We all know what happened to that record,” she said. “Don Jazzy just has that magic touch. I didn’t even know I’d end up on the song, but it turned out to be phenomenal.”
Released in 2014, Dorobucci became an Afrobeats classic, uniting Mavin stars including Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Dr Sid, D’Prince, Korede Bello, Di’Ja, and Reekado Banks in one of the most iconic Nigerian collaborations of the decade.
