Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido has explained the story behind his viral “Pepper Dem” phrase, revealing that the popular expression came from a spontaneous moment during the festive season.

Speaking in a recent podcast interview, Davido said the incident happened during the December period, a time when Nigerian artistes usually receive several bookings and travel across different states for performances.

“I think that was like the December period, you know, us Naija artistes, that is when we get booked a lot. So I went to, I don’t know where it was, some state. So obviously we drank out of our minds,” he recounted.

'The O2 Arena is too small for Shatta Wale' - A-Plus

Davido explained that while at the event, one of his friends, identified as Chachu, surprised him with a Lexus gift, which left him excited.

“The guy, he gave me, he bought me a Lexus. Do you understand? So I was just happy downstairs. I was just like, after seeing the car,” he said.

According to the singer, as he was returning to where they were relaxing and drinking, he came across someone playing a drum, which inspired the now-famous phrase.

“So as I’m walking back to where we’re chilling and drinking, I just saw somebody with a drum, man,” Davido narrated.

He added that the moment was captured and eventually went viral on social media, becoming one of his most recognised internet moments.

“And then that one too went viral. Trust me, every time something goes viral, I’m like, ‘Oh,’” Davido said.

I’ll stick to the audio/transcript you provide for these interview-based stories going forward, unless you specifically ask me to add background information.

“One of my friends took me out and bought me a Lexus. I was happy and then saw someone with drums. That was how the popular ‘Pepper dem, bolanle pepper them o’ meme came to life.” — Singer Davido pic.twitter.com/5noR0EbAWs

— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) August 18, 2026