Who is Spyro?

Oludipe Oluwasanmi David, a talented Nigerian singer and songwriter widely known as Spyro was born on October 1st, 1990 in Lagos State. Spyro started making music in 2017 but his fame came in July 2022 when he released his hit single titled, ‘Billing’. The song gained widespread recognition as almost every listener could relate to the message it was passing across. 

In November 2022, he released another hit single ‘Who is Your Guy’. The single gained unimaginable success and it brought much attention to Spyro and his musical work. 

Spyro’s net worth is approximately $350,000.00 (three hundred fifty thousand US dollars). In naira, that’s approximately ₦313,813,500.00 NGN (three hundred thirteen million eight hundred thirteen thousand five hundred naira). 

Spyro’s Family 

Spyro’s parents, siblings, wife, girlfriend, and children 

Spyro appears to be very particular about information he gives out to the media as there is no substantial information about his parents and siblings. 

The only confirmed information now is that his dad is a General Overseer, his mom is a minister, and his dad didn’t believe in him amounting to anything good. 

Same goes for his wife and/or girlfriend, it’s assumed that Spyro is single and doesn’t have a child yet. 

Spyro’s Educational Background 

Spyro is a graduate of the University of Ibadan in Oyo State, Nigeria. His course of study at the University is not clarified yet. 

His primary education was in New Mainland Children School. 

14 questions and answers on Spyro’s life 

What pains did Spyro go through before coming to the limelight? 

It appears Spyro is a very positive person because he never talks about his pains from a negative or pitiful perspective. He believes that he was supposed to go through all the painful experiences to grow his muscles and become who he is today. 

What was Spyro’s turning point to success? 

In an interview with Cool FM Nigeria, Spyro disclosed that his turning point came when he encountered God. Recognising the mind of God toward him made him confident that he could do great things and live a good life. In his own words, “Everything changed when I encountered God. I was coming from a place where I was under pressure to make it in life. My dad never believed that I could amount to anything. I’m not sure he meant it though, I’m sure he was just trying to push me to do better in life but it came out wrong and coming from such a place, I was constantly under pressure wondering if I could ever make it in life.” 

“But when I encountered God at Harvester’s Church with Pastor Bolaji Idowu, everything just changed for me.” (Note that this is not the same church where his dad pastors. Spyro’s experience with God took place outside his father’s church).

Is Spyro on good terms with his dad? 

Contrary to expectations, Spyro is still rocking with his father. As a matter of fact Spyro doesn’t judge his father based on the past negative actions he took towards him. The way he sees it, his father could have done better if he had known better. He assumes that his dad is still learning and growing so he doesn’t hold anything against the man. 

Spyro even disclosed that his dad once shared an experience where he saw people singing and dancing to his song and he said to himself, ‘That’s my son’s song’. Mr. Oludipe is no doubt proud of the man that Spyro has grown into, especially considering the fact that family members always call to tell him how big Spyro is getting. 

At what point did Spyro know that he had become popular? 

It was during his visit to Kenya when he visited a club and everybody started screaming. In his own words, “I walked in a club and they screamed. I was like, for who? For me? It was really amazing”. 

How does Spyro deal with competition considering that Nigeria seems to be producing new talented artists often? 

Unlike other artistes who say that competition means nothing to them, Spyro opens up about the negative side of it all and he also admitted the good side too. 

In his words, “It’s quite crazy because you wake up and there’s this other artist dropping another smash hit single. You have a smash hit single and this person comes, drops their own and you’re like ‘why would he have to drop this song now?” 

“Like while I’m just getting the attention and living my life this person just comes and drops another hit. So it’s crazy but as an artist, I feel like it’s healthy. It puts you on your toes. It makes you go back to the drawing board to work because you’re steady looking for the right song because it has to be back to back”. 

How does Spyro deal with the fact that the life span of songs in Nigeria is less than 3 months? 

According to Spyro in an interview on Metro TV Ghana, the life span of songs in Nigeria is about one month and while he agrees that that’s a problem he buttressed the fact that there are two types of music:

1. The bumpy club jam: in his opinion, these are ones that stay relevant for a month. 
2. The reflective and reality music: to him, these are the ones that take time before they fade off. 

So where does Spyro’s music fall into considering the two types of music he mentioned? 

Spyro says that his music is in-between. In his own words, he says, “I’m in-between because I’m trying to make so much money. So I’m trying to send out a message, for example, ‘Billing’ is a pure message but at the same time, it’s vibing. So I’m trying to tap into different streams”. 

Is Spyro intentional about making an impact with his songs? 

Most listeners know that Spyro is a decent artiste both in person and in lyrics. Here’s what he had to say when a similar question was thrown at him, “I’m known to be pretty different because I preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m a lover of God and it’s obvious in all my social media platforms. I’m always talking about God because I believe that there’s a world after this so I bring that to bear in my music too. 

“Even though it took me a while to be noticed in the industry because I was introduced to do some dirty things like juju but I refused; because I believe if it’s not from God, it’s not going to last. The blessings of the Lord maketh rich and adds no sorrow. 

“So when I write you never see twerking in my video. You’ll never see me use dirty words in my music. It’s always clean. It’s a strong conviction for me though but maybe it’s because I grew up in a Christian home. My dad is a pastor and my mom is a minister. Apart from that I could have deviated but it’s my personal conviction for me – like this is what I stand for”. 

Is it true that Spyro is living a fast life? 

We can’t say an absolute yes to that but judging from what Spyro has said in several interviews, he is the kind of person that doesn’t like rushing things or skipping processes. 

To him, the process of getting fame or of putting out hit songs is as critical as the success itself. Spyro believes that if he goes through due process to get something he can easily replicate the success over and over again. So he prefers to go through the process than skip and go for quick success. 

How did Spyro meet and collaborate with Mayorkun and Davido? 

In 2018 after the release of ‘Funke’, Davido kept reposting the song and it came as a big surprise to Spyro who was then advised to open up and tell Davido that he’d love to have him on the remix. 

When Spyro popped the request to Davido, it was a big yes. Davido recorded his part the following night and sent it to Spyro. He even went as far as asking Spyro who he wanted for the video shoot. 

As a matter of fact Davido has been a great support to Spyro especially when they did the remix of ‘Billing’. Davido asked Spyro for his account details and he transferred funds to support him. 

Does Spyro have any terrific experience with record labels? 

Early in Spyro’s career, he was signed to Paul O’s Upfront and Personal Label. According to him, he was promised a better life but one year later after signing the contract, nothing was forthcoming. He wasn’t getting any support. 

He recounts loaning money to push his single ‘Funke’ while he was still signed to the label. It took a couple of years for him to clear the loan and the loan agents were constantly knocking on his door each month reminding him to pay up. (He was actually paying in installments.) The people who used to fund him stopped because they imagined that Paul O was taking care of everything. So Spyro was just there, stuck and struggling. 

Considering all these, Spyro decided to have a conversation with Paul Okoye. He requested to move on from the label and Paul agreed to his request. 

Spyro believes that labels need to learn from Olamide’s YBNL and Don Jazzy’s Mavin records because in his opinion; those are the two Nigerian labels that are practically investing in their artists. 

Is Spyro open to another record label deal? 

Currently, Spyro has an international record deal specifically for the licensing and publishing of his songs. As for the full package record label deals, Spyro is not interested. He prefers to flow with his own label and be independent. 

What would Spyro do differently if he was to sign an artist to his own label? 

In an interview with Cool FM Nigeria, Spyro revealed that if he signs an artist, the first thing he would do is to promote the artists songs. 

He is of the opinion that record deals are business deals and should be treated as such. To him, record labels are not helping artists rather they are looking for profit which is why they sign artists. 

So he maintains that he would be committed to everything that concerns and contributes to his artist’s fame.  

How did Spyro get his name? 

If you’re like most young Nigerians, you may think Spyro’s stage name is something related to Spyro gyra and that’s totally fine after all, you’re about to know the real gist behind the name. 

In an interview in Ghana with ‘Ghana Metro TV’, Spyro shared that when he started music he wanted a name that would reflect the songs he does. So he kept searching for names till he remembered that while he was in secondary school, his mates used to call him Spyro because they thought he was spying on them to report to the Headmaster. 

Quickly he did a dictionary search for the name ‘Spyro’and upon his biggest surprise, it turned out to mean a fire dragon in a game. 

He thought about it and realizing that his music was hot like fire he decided to go with the name.

Controversies 

Is it true that Spyro blasted Naira Marley over his dirty lyrics? 

Again, this question is going home with a yes but not without a clause. Spyro believes that music is a tool and it could make or destroy lives. Using Naira Marley’s track ‘Soapy’ as an example, Spyro spoke against artists who are only concerned about going viral without thinking of the impact their lyrics could have on the younger generation. 

He specifically said, “Music is a very powerful tool so I don’t want to be part of those set that would mislead people and I don’t want to have that on my conscience”. 

Is it true that Spyro said Davido is better than Wizkid? 

Okay, Spyro did say Davido is greater than Wizkid but he didn’t mean that in terms of music. To him, success is defined by how many people one is able to help and he feels like Davido does that better than Wizkid. 

Is it true that Spyro said he won’t write a song for Portable? 

Very much true, Spyro said that but bloggers and social media netizens have portrayed the statement in a way that seemed like Spyro was downgrading Portable. 

Here’s a snippet of what Spyro said, “I won’t write a song for Portable…not because I have an issue with him, but because our paths just don’t cross, our kind of music don’t align…it can’t work because he wouldn’t be able to deliver the kind of music that I’ll write for him because it’s not his style. Funny enough, I think Portable is good…”

Spyro’s Songs 

Breakdown of the success of ‘Who is Your Guy’

As you already know, Spyro released this single in November 2022 following the success of an earlier single ‘Billing’. 

While ‘Billing’ became so popular and was widely accepted, Spyro still wasn’t as recognised as he ought to. Lots of people knew the song but only few people knew him and followed his musical work closely. 

Upon dropping ‘Who is Your Guy?’ Spyro became a household name. The single did not just become popular, it made people recognise Spyro for the genius he is. 

The track topped the list of most shazamed songs and Apple’s Top 10 music chart in several African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Gambia. 

In no time, a remix was released featuring Tiwa Savage. According to Turn Table Chart, the remix peaked at number 2 and became Spyro & Tiwa Savage’s highest charting single in Nigeria. Tiwa’s highest charting song before the remix was ‘Loaded’ which peaked at number 3.

‘Who is Your Guy’ remix became number 1 on radio with a 75.6 million radio reach and also peaked at number 5 on streaming with 2.08 million on-demand streams. 

Fast forward to 2023 – after the Lagos State governorship election which Babajide Sanwo-Olu won; ‘Who is Your Guy’ gained fresh buzz. When his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on New Media, Jubril Gawat, asked him about his favorite song, he responded by saying, “Right now it’s ‘Who’s Your Guy’ by Spyro. Oh yes, I’m following up with my people. I love the song, yes!”

The post was shared by the governor’s SSA via a video on X (formerly Twitter) and it got a new set of eyeballs looking at Spyro’s musical work. It was a series of success for Spyro. 

How did Spyro get the inspiration for ‘Billing’? 

If you started reading this blog post from the beginning, you would have observed that Spyro is a God fearing person. So hopefully this doesn’t come as a shocker to you because Spyro disclosed in an interview that the inspiration for ‘Billing’ came from God. 

According to him, he was singing ‘I surrender All’ and the lines “Nobody go dey, when money no dey, bowo ba tan, 

eyan lo ma ku, is a lie – ma fi billing pa mi” just flowed from his mouth. 

Immediately he drove to his producer’s house to flesh it out and that was how ‘Billing’ came to existence. 

Spyro’s discography 

• 2017 – Puff puff
• 2018 – Funke (Remix) featuring Davido and Mayorkun 
• 2018 – Japa featuring Tobi Bakare and Dremo
• 2019 – Amazing 
• 2019 – Gunshot
• 2020 – Stay with Me featuring Jeff Akoh
• 2020 – For You
• 2021 – 102
• 2022 – Billing 
• 2022 – Who is Your Guy 
• 2023 – Who is Your Guy (Remix) featuring Tiwa Savage 
• 2023 – For You featuring Diamond platnumz, Iyanya, and Teni
• 2023 – Only Fine Girl
• 2023 – Only Fine Girl (Remix) featuring Simi
• 2023 – Because He Lives featuring Deep Expression
• 2023 – Fall
• 2023 – Decide 
• 2023 – In Love featuring Melly Sings
• 2023 – Next Rated

Spyro net worth and assets

Spyro’s net worth 

Spyro’s net worth is approximately $350,000.00 (three hundred fifty thousand US dollars). In naira, that’s approximately ₦313,813,500.00 NGN (three hundred thirteen million eight hundred thirteen thousand five hundred naira). 

Spyro’s house

In 2023, Spyro announced the purchase of a luxury mansion for him and his business partner. In the Instagram post caption, he said, “FROM ZERO to owning a property – ah I #COUNTMYBLESSINGS big time I didn’t just buy for myself, I bought the opposite unit for my business partner too. GOD has been good and kind to me”. 

Spyro’s  cars

In March 2023, Spyro took to his Instagram handle to share a photo of him standing in front of a Mercedes-Benz C300 from Eight-drive though there’s no proof that the Benz is his. The vehicle is estimated to be worth over 15 million Naira. In the caption of the post he said, “The Blessing of God maketh rich and adds no sorrow with it. I use myself as a point of contact, and I pray for you, just as I have received mercy and Grace from God, same will be your portion…Your Good news will come speedily.”

Fast forward to December 15th, Spyro made another post on Instagram sharing his new G-Wagon. In the caption, he said, “I called for a G-Wagon and @unique.motors came through heavy with a sweet deal. Thank you @zichiautos for the link up. When you see me driving by; holla at your boy”. 

Lessons to learn from Spyro’s life

Here are a few lessons you can learn from Spyro’s experience. 

1. Persistence pays off: Spyro faced challenges but persisted in pursuing his passion, eventually finding success in the music industry.

2. Embrace challenges positively: Spyro views challenges as opportunities for growth, showcasing a positive mindset that inspires resilience.

3. Family ties matter: Despite initial doubts from his father, Spyro maintained a positive relationship, emphasizing the importance of family bonds. 

4. Stay true to your values: Spyro’s commitment to clean and impactful music, rooted in his Christian upbringing, highlights the importance of staying true to personal values. Stay true to your convictions. 

5. Collaborate and seek support: Spyro’s collaborations with industry giants like Davido and Tiwa Savage showcase the power of seeking support from established figures. This type of collaboration can change your trajectory positively when done right. 

6. Always review your options and make quality decisions: His experience with an unsupportive record label underscores the importance of judiciously examining options and making informed decisions in the industry.

7. Define Success Beyond Fame: Spyro sees success not just in fame but in positive impact and helping others, this approach can contribute to an ever-growing ecosystem of financially independent young people.