It might be Asake’s creativity that endears him to his fans and probably not just his music. The thing about Asake’s artistry is how captivating it can be and how his style, though generic, seems to work wonders for him, alone. Asake’s music is a tale of what works for me, might not work for you. His musical journey spans across maintaining a lane where he does and applies what he knows best and best believe, Mr Money With The Vibe is one of the ‘dearly beloved’ of the Nigerian music industry.
Asake’s music filters through various horizons, it escapes beyond the borders of the Southern landscape of the Nigerian nation and finds ground even beyond Africa as a continent. His music is a no brainer, you just have to love it! Or you don’t, it’s your choice to make.
When Asake landed with ‘Lady’ in 2019, no one might have envisiaged him as an artist who’d be able to amass such fame and reputation as he has now– to the likes of writers like this, he was yet just another artist, waiting to be milked off the internet by social media content creators and poof! Vanish out of thin air. But were we shocked? Yes. Asake went on to drop yet another massive hit that hit close to the South African borders with regards to genre– his employment of the amapiano sound.
To this writer, Asake remains one of those Nigerian artists who though might have overused the sound, is still able to churn out something worthwhile without sounding tiring. And so, Asake owned the year 2022 with a relentless need to carry the music year on his stoic back; a need to establish himself such so that even when he might seem AWOL, he wouldn’t appear like an artist who fell off the ‘reigning’ trend.
Asake might not be the first to necessarily incite a culture within the music industry, but he most definitely belongs to the cult of ‘first artists to …’ This explains when he dropped his debut album,’Mr Money With The Vibe’, he was quick to sit at the hight throne with the likes of Wizkid and Wande Coal, some of the first artists to successfully drop a 10/10 debut album with no skips and an evident mark of greatness ahead etched into the properly curated music project.
It’s practically impossible to detest the music Asake makes – his music contains an addictive potion that spurs you into a groovy mood, with his overused employment of the amapiano sound and alluring crowd vocals that prompt you to sing along; even if you detest his music, the bits of his music is sitted cozly somewhere in your head.
The artist is not proud to lay claim to being among some of the top dawgs of the Nigerian music scene because candidly, he has proven himself through his music and not just the reputation the music brings for him– the solidity of his music catalogue, his featured collaboration, the success of his music projects and how infused he is with his culture that revels evidently within his music. Asake might be many things, but not a subpar artist who you’ll deny the right to be an exceptional musician.
This writer throws a face to the corner to admit that there was once a time when there was a demand for versatility to the music which Asake makes – the over-usage of the log drums and crowd vocals might have been too tiring and this writer urgently needed a form of contradiction to the conclusion of Asake being great, but only great at what he knows work for him best – amapiano and log drums, the constant recycling of musical pattern and no innovation whatsoever.
Asake’s debut album, ‘Mr Money With The Vibe’ and his sophomore album, ‘Work Of Art’ might have indeed being works of art but doesn’t disparag the fact that they bear great semblance with only a recycling of theme and few other elements within them. To be blunt, it lacked a form of creativity and a sense of versatility. Asake’s music became that great sound that though was awesome, lacked an entirely different perspective to be analzyed in an entirely different manner and approach.
We’re not sure what horse Asake currently is on right now, but we definitely see hints of evolution that perhaps static or not, has definitely reflected in the release of his third studio album, ‘Lungu Boy.’ The album is marked by evident tilt of sound and a minimal employment of log drums and this has given us the time to reflect on what version of Asake we like better– not like this matters but just for the purpose of analysis, we might, or might not state.
One thing however is sure– the two sides to Asake are impeccable and he is able to carry with him the ensignia of what his craft is identified with; his heavy usage of Yoruba language and crowd vocals which like it or not, you’ll have to make do with, as it doesn’t make his music any less enjoyable.
‘Mr Money With The Vibe’, ‘Work Of Art’, we understood; but the intent behind ‘Lungu Boy’ poises a bit of confusion at the wonder of the album title’s selection. It was rather easy to dissect upon giving the albums a listen to the story behind the earlier titles but it remains unclear the rationale behind the third. No, this is not what we intend to focus on.
Asake’s ‘Lungu Boy’ starts on an impressive note with samples from Asa’s ‘Eye Adaba’ on ‘Start’; the artist doesn’t necessarily do too much before turning the waves to focus on the feature with Wizkid in ‘MMS’. ‘MMS’ is perfectly suited for Wizkid’s sultry aura when he makes music and an adjustment to Asake’s evolved sound within the album. On a scale of 10, Asake’s album clocks an 8 with regards to the energy with how the album begins.
With evolution comes shock and revelations because who knew Asake could sing in Latin? While his Latin in ‘Mood’ sounds like an hurriedly rehearsed practice within the span of three days and a breeze through spewing while recording in the studio, ‘Mood’ definitely is a mood with how it seeps through into the ears following the upbeat influence. We’re still not over Asake’s Latin with a Yoruba tongue lyrics though.
When you think you’re done with the Latino phase of Asake in ‘Lungu Boy’, you stumble into ‘My Heart’ where Asake turns into some form of Nigerian Bruno Mars, just not the typical romantic type. It’s a surprise when you pay attention to the lyrics and discover that Asake is not really being sweet and is using the beat as a cover to utter hilarious lyrics where he speaks of his ‘dealer’ and a woman’s well, buttocks. We’ll give it to him for the puns though – “She ain’t gat no only fans, I’m the only fans” and “Roses are red, violets are blue, I wanna f**k with you”; it’s a thing attune with Yoruba men over the height of 5’8.
What’s an Asake tune without log drums? He slowly employs his well known instrument into ‘Worldwide’; a tune that can be particularly described as somber and calm. It’s like one is forced to witness a stillness to Asake’s fire, not like it’s extinguished anyways.
‘Active’ has to be the catchiest tune on ‘Lungu Boy’, following his sampling of Jazzman Olofin ft Ayuba’s ‘Raise The Roof’. He features Travis Scott and for a track with so much Nigerian influence within it, Travis Scott finds his balance well within it. The song has been quick to become a Tiktok sensation and in the books of some Nigerians, that is a metric for musical success.
Another particulaly interesting track is ‘Suru’ featuring Stormzy – it shows the reflective side of Asake, a side he never fails to reveal in his albums. The track slaps through horns and percussions, infused with Stormy’s verse. His use of talking drums at the end of the song is evident and shows the sort of cultural attunement Asake has with his Yoruba heritage, which has in turn influenced his music. This will be Asake’s first ever project to contain notable international artists as a form of step into the global music space and securing an unshakable spot within it. On ‘Lungu Boy’, he also features Central Cee on ‘Wave’and Ludmilla on ‘Whine.’
As earlier said, with evolution comes shocks and revelations as in ‘Skating’, Asake reveals his love for the art of skating and one is inclined to question that is skating indeed a part of him and a lifestyle? Regardless of this lifestyle shock of the artist, ‘Skating’ is yet another impressive track that excels on the threshold of the instrumentals that build the base to the tune.
To be candid, not much change in sound is witnessed in Asake’s album– it simply is Asake doing what he normally would, only this time with lesser need for log drums as it shows in the tracks, ‘Mentally’, Uhh Yeahh’, ‘I Swear’ and ‘Ligali’. One might now ask that what exactly was the evident change that is noticed in Asake’s ‘Lungu Boy’? An ideal response might be the exploration of sounds outside amapiano, the creativity that lures Asake into the Spanish scene and the fostering collaborations with Westerm rappers.
Asake closes the album with the sweetest bang, becoming the Gen Z Adewale Ayuba of our time with ‘Fuji Vibe’ – Asake might have created a sound that is ideal for every event and a sound that the Yorubas and other cultures can enjoy to the brim. ‘Fuji Vibe’ contains infectious energy, contagious lyrics as well as a captivating beat to it– the horns, the drums, the pianos, amongst many other instruments that dwell within it.
Everybody loves Asake’s music but how many people can deal with this new display of versatility in his third album, ‘Lungu Boy’? Would one pass the conclusion that this change in sound either permanent or not, falls short of an expectation expected of the artist? Does it insinuate that Asake’s much better suited for his tiring usage of amapiano sound and log drums? Or does this put to stop the bits and pieces of comments on his repetitive lane of music creativity? The need for him to explore more and give lovers and critics of his music more ample chance to understand areas of him not necessarily revealed to the public? So many questions can be deduced from Asake’s ‘Lungu Boy’ and yet, not one conclusion can be deduced from it – because truthfully, some will have a liking for this change and others, will simply conclude that he sticks to what he indeed does best.
This writer though, will not be commenting on it.
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