"Watawi" is a song by Nigerian singer and songwriter CKay, featuring fellow Nigerian singer Davido, alongside a South African rapper

Focalistic Lethabo Sebetso (born 26 May 1996), professionally known as Focalistic, is a South African rapper. Born and raised in Pretoria, Sebetso was a footballer prior pursuing a music career as a rapper, released his debut studio album ''Sgubhu Ses Exc ...

, and record producer Abidoza. It was released on 17 June 2022, by

Warner Music Africa Warner Music Africa (formerly Warner Music South Africa) is a music corporation of the global record label Warner Music Group, founded on 5 December 2013. with its South Africa arm managing artist development, marketing, and distribution for Warn ...

. "Watawi" was written by

CKay Chukwuka Ekweani (born 16 July 1995), better known by his stage name Ckay (stylised as CKay), is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and record producer signed to Warner Music South Africa, and Atlantic Records. He was formerly signed to Chocolate Cit ...

, Davido,

, and Abidoza, who also produced the song. It accompanied by a music video directed by Dalia Dias. It debuted at number 13 on the ''TurnTable'' Top 50, number 21 on the US ''Billboard'' Afrobeats Songs chart, and number 6 on the

UK Afrobeats Singles Chart The UK Afrobeats Singles Chart is a record chart compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 20 most popular singles in the afrobeats genre. The chart is compiled by the OCC from digital downloads, phy ...

. On 21 June 2022, ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' music editor, Jordan Darville, gave an illustration of the definition of "Watawi", slang for "What Are We?". The music editor further wrote, "A lot of people have been in tricky situations when their 'situationship' attempts to push things further than it needs to be". On 22 June 2022, CKay performed "Watawi" for the first time in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France.

Music video

On 17 June 2022, the song was accompanied by a music video directed by Dalia Dias, and shot in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Commercial performance

"Watawi" peaked at number 6 on the

. On 28 June 2022, it debuted at number 13 on the Nigeria ''TurnTable'' Top 50. "Watawi" also peaked at number 11 on TurnTable Top 50 streaming songs chart, and ''TurnTable'' Top 50 Airplay chart. On 28 June 2022, it debuted at number 21 on the US ''Billboard'' Afrobeats Songs chart. "Watawi" has received one million Boomplay streams, and 1.2 million Spotify streams as of 29 June 2022. In 2022, "Watawi" was shortlisted on OkayAfrica Heat of the Week.

Credits and personnel

– vocals, songwriting, production * Davido – vocals, songwriting *

– vocals, songwriting * Abidoza - songwriting, production

Charts

Release history

References

{{CKay 2022 songs 2022 singles African electronic dance music CKay songs Songs written by Davido