Davido’s ‘IF’ Goes Diamond While ‘FALL’ Hits Platinum: Two Hits, Two Major Milestones

Some songs are hits for a season. Others become part of the soundtrack of an era.

For Davido, “IF” and “FALL” did both.

In February 2018, David Adeleke celebrated another major career milestone as his 2017 singles “IF” and “FALL” received Diamond and Platinum certifications respectively in South Africa. Davido shared photos of himself with the plaques at Columbia Records’ office, celebrating the recognition and thanking his fans and team.

“‘IF’ Is officially Diamond and ‘FALL’ is officially Platinum in sales!!! My trophies finally came in as well! GOD IS REAL!! … Thank you Guys for making this happen!! just gettin started!!!”»

Two songs that changed Davido’s run

Released in 2017, “IF” and “FALL” arrived during one of the most defining periods of Davido’s career.

“IF,” produced by Tekno, became one of the records that helped re-establish Davido at the centre of African pop culture after a period of intense public scrutiny around his career. “FALL,” produced by Kiddominant, followed with an even wider international life, eventually becoming one of the most recognisable Afrobeats songs of its generation.

The certifications gave physical recognition to what listeners were already experiencing: these were not ordinary hits.

What did Diamond and Platinum actually mean?

There is an important detail behind the plaques.

The certifications reported at the time were awarded by the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA). For singles, RISA's thresholds were 20,000 units for Platinum and 200,000 units for Diamond at the time. Pulse reported that South Africa's certification system also incorporated music-video views into its calculations.

So while “Diamond” and “Platinum” can mean different sales or equivalent-unit thresholds depending on the certification body, Davido's plaques represented a significant level of recorded consumption in the South African market.

And that matters because these weren't simply Nigerian songs doing well at home. They were records travelling.

“IF” and “FALL” helped demonstrate something that was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: Davido's music could move beyond Nigeria without losing its Nigerian identity.

The songs sounded unmistakably African, yet they travelled through clubs, radio, streaming platforms and international audiences. “FALL” would go on to become a particularly important crossover record, later earning certifications in other markets and becoming one of Davido's most enduring songs.

That is why the photographs of Davido holding those plaques feel bigger than a trophy-room moment.

They captured a period when Afrobeats was beginning to make the journey from African hit to global pop currency — and Davido was firmly in that conversation.

 “IF” gave Davido a Diamond record. “FALL” gave him another Platinum milestone. But the real win was what the two songs proved together: the Nigerian hitmaker had records that could travel, stay relevant and rack up recognition outside his home market.

What do you remember most about the “IF” and “FALL” era — the songs, the videos, or the whole Davido comeback energy?