Asake posing in a countryside setting for his Money Can’t Buy Happiness music video off the M$NEY album.
When Asakeexploded onto the Afrobeats scene in 2022 with his song Omo Ope featuring Olamide, he instantly made himself irresistible to his fans. While dropping his debut eponymous EP project, Ololade Asake, was enough to bolster his presence in the Nigerian music scene, Sungba, off the EP, could be considered the actual career-booster for him. Sungbawas widely accepted, so much so that it attracted a feature with Burna Boy. The song began topping many charts, amassing millions of views worldwide, and became one of the biggest songs in 2022.
Ever since, everything from Asake has become what can be considered a goldmine. Every song was a hit: Pallazo, with DJ Spinall, Terminator, and Peace Be Unto You. The successes of these songs inspired him to release a full debut album, Mr Money With The Vibe, a few months after his debut EP in 2022. One of the riding bikes for Asake’s journey is bringing a distinctively different sound to Afrobeats. The debut album properly introduced everyone to that sound, which has generally been described as Amapiano but not conclusively so. While Amapiano can be considered a major influence on the sound, it is distinctive enough to be simply called an “Asake Sound” or a “Mr Money Sound”, as he alluded to in his song, MMS, with Wizkid.
The Nigerian music industry today has taken a shape that favours artists with a sound different from the norm but can also experiment with other sounds. Asake’s debut album properly introduced his fans to his sound, but he needed another body of work to stretch and express his range. Work of Art was the album to express that range. The album featured popular tracks like Lonely At The Top, Mogbe, Basquiat, 2:30 and his first Grammy-nominated song, Amapiano. Releasing Work of Artin 2023 put Asake on the global stage that many Nigerian artists long to be on, selling out arenas and stadiums and being nominated for the most coveted music award; all barely two years into his stardom.
https://x.com/asakemusik/status/2056014337517420803
Asake is one of the biggest gainers on the streaming platform and YBNL’s collaboration with Empire. What the two factors gave him is an already defined channel to popularity: a distribution platform and a streaming platform. While YBNL handles his local affairs, Empire was placing Asake in places that continue to give him international visibility. While no one knows the context of his contract with YBNL, his third studio album, Lungu Boy, would be the last album he’d release under Olamide-owned YBNL.
Lungu Boy seemed like a strange album for what’s known as Asake because it’s a more laid-back album, but it is the album that placed Asake beyond the shores of his country. It is what you can call a big boy album because Asake flaunts his wealth and his status, and shares his state of mind in the album. While the first two albums introduced a humble, lamba-making Asake to his fans, Lungu Boy presented him in a new, experimental light with different sounds and themes. Months after the release of Lungu Boy, Asake left YBNL, founded his new label, Giran Republic, met Alexa Rae Perkins, and had relocated to California. He was no longer a Nigerian artist. Asake became a Nigerian global artist.
Work of Art introduced Asake to global stadiums, arenas and awards; Lungu Boy brought Asake into the conversation of “first.” He became the first Nigerian artist to perform at the Red Bull Symphonic and the first Nigerian artist to perform at Spotify’s One Night Only, where he rereleased a live performance of his fourth studio album, M$NEY.
From the outside, Asake’s rise can feel meteoric, almost as if he arrived fully formed. But his career journey shows that every phase has been built deliberately on the one before it. Ololade Asake introduced an exciting new voice. Mr Money With The Vibe established a distinct musical identity. Work of Art proved that identity could travel beyond Nigeria, while Lungu Boy showed an artist confident enough to evolve even at the risk of surprising his audience. Along the way, he became the first artist to debut with three consecutive No. 1 albums on Nigeria’s charts, sold out London’s O2 Arena multiple times, collaborated with Wizkid on many records, performed on some of the world’s biggest festival stages, earned Grammy recognition and consistently ranked among Africa’s most-streamed artists.
https://x.com/asakemusik/status/2055053164605313211
The most remarkable thing about Asake is how deep-rooted he is in his roots. He’s Yoruba, speaks Yoruba, sings in Yoruba; he did not become a global star by abandoning his roots. His music draws from Fuji, Yoruba chants, street slang and the sounds of Lagos that first made him irresistible. The local became universal. Asake joined the growing generation of Nigerian artists proving that global success is no longer about crossing over to another market but taking your own world with you and making the rest of the world listen.
Ololade Mi Asake.
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