ALBUM REVIEW: In ‘Lungu Boy’, Asake struggles to live up to superstar status

Barely three years in the spotlight of mainstream Afrobeats, Asake has laid down markers that contemporary artistes of the genre will struggle to equalise. He came into the game fully polished. He came not simply to survive in the industry’s rough, bumpy path but to thrive amid the chaos. A dizzying run of monster hits ushered his rise from obscurity to Nigeria’s biggest hitmaker in 2022. Often, when artistes blow up at the speed Asake did, the songs travel farther than the musician. But not with Asake. He had suited himself in innate charisma and fashion acumen to lift off with his hit tracks as they rocket into greater pastures. He was everywhere the song went. He sold out O2 Academy Brixton in less than five minutes after tickets went on sale — barely six months into his rise began. Although tragedy stopped the show, Asake was back in London a year later. He was miming the sombre tune of ‘Lonely At The Top’ to a sold-out O2 Arena, bouncing with 20,000 passionate fans screaming the lyrics back at him. 

Asake easily accompanied his success with neck-breaking consistency, a workload that would have regular artistes panting for air. On August 9, he released his fourth project in three years. After the introductory sound of ‘Omo Ope’ EP in early 2022, he concluded the year with the brilliant ‘Mr Money With The Vibe’ album. Asake then followed with a self-declaratory ‘Work Of Art’ album in 2023. With the recently released ‘Lungu Boy‘, Asake completes the trifecta of consecutive albums every year.

Asake is an enigma — a global superstar whose musical prowess and personality are unpredictable and cannot be codified into boxes. He espouses thoughtfulness in a few of his songs but reposts a misogynistic video on his Instagram story. He spews enchanting Lamba with splashes of his Fuji inflection in one track, and the next, he struggles with the rudiments of crafting a simple chorus. The puzzling contradictions of the last point dotted many tracks on ‘Lungu Boy’.

The 15-track album, whose name means “Ghetto Boy,” is so distanced from its title in execution. The album is Asake’s project that is most removed from his roots in traditional Fuji music — a sound synonymous with Lagos ghettos, one of which Ahmed Ololade was raised. ‘Lungu Boy’ is an experimental cocktail of foreign melodies mixed to sip Asake into the bloodstream of a wider international market. But the result struggles to pack a punch or give heady satisfaction.

The first voice listeners hear on the album does not belong to Asake. ‘Start’, the album’s intro, starts with a sampling of Asa’s ‘Eye Adaba’, released in 2007.

Asake does not enter the song until after 30 seconds. He drops into the track, bragging about the “big intro” he’s accorded everywhere he goes.

He foretold “new sound” that comprises “Afrobeats and Calypso” and summarily ends the track as quickly as it started.

Asake has earned a reputation for leading his album with spiritual intros like ‘Dull’ and ‘Olorun’, which are heavy with saxophone and cherubic ambience, ‘Start’ diverts from the troupe and bounces with flair with production from P.Prime.

Up next is ‘MMS’ featuring Wizkid. The track is a melancholic, mid-tempo tune that harps on the vanity of life. The song is Asake in his convenient space on a slow, percussion-heavy instrumental perfectly styled for him and Wizkid by P. Prime. It is one of few sparse crest points in the album, as Wizkid becomes uncharacteristically vulnerable and croons about the death of his mother and his struggle for impetus. “My mama leave me, yeah, e no long/Lost myself and I found my purpose,” the line is so profound it summarises the entirety of the over three minutes song. 

On ‘Mood,’ Asake follows the solemn trend of the album’s opening acts. He also collaborates with P.Prime on a silky production. In the track’s second verse, Asake flirts with Spanish, a nod to the expanding global fanbase. Although the Spanish sounds more like Arabic recitation, it adds another compelling layer to Asake’s delivery apparatus.

‘My Heart’ signals the slow descent from the brilliant opening of the album. Asake enters the track with a capella, but his voice quivers with dull edges and fails to hit a spine-tingling level listeners are familiar with. The interpolation of Debbie Gibson’s ‘Lost in Your Eyes’ does little to sharpen the blunt.

With ‘Worldwide,’ Asake finally announces his project goal. However, his delivery struggles to match his ambition. He sounds constricted, devoid of coherent lyrics, and veers off-beat a handful of times.

Songs like ‘Active’ featuring Travis Scott and ‘Suru’ with Stormzy drag despite the heavyweight collaborations. Asake’s efforts on both seem overwhelmed by the occasion. He appears out-of-sort on the high-energy blends of Afrobeats and hip-hop of ‘Active’ and relies on Sarz’s classical production for crutches.

Lyricism has always been Asake’s weakness, but his sweet cadence tends to cover the inadequacy. However, in ‘Skating, ‘I Swear,’ and ‘Mentally’, “Mr Vibe” sounds tired, and his rhythm and vibe suffer by association. These tracks are album fillers at best or albatrosses that sunk the project to its lowest.

‘Lungu Boy’ picks up stratospherically with ‘Uhh Yeah’. The song is a potential hit on the back of Sarz’s ingenious marriage of electronic sound with Afrohouse. Asake comes out for air in ‘Uhh Yeah’. He skillfully unfurls his brilliant Fuji inflection in the catchy hook. “Jo bi serpent/ To ba fun mi I go dey on silent/ If you buss my head you will never regret,” Asake demands from an unnamed sexy dancer. The melody of the hook gives a nod to ‘Fuji Garbage’ by Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. Asake has always named the late legendary musician as one of his inspirations.

The album wraps with ‘Fuji Vibes’- a medley of street sounds with its spine being an Asake’s old freestyle. The five-minute track fuses the traditional “Omele Sakara” drum with a melange of tunes with the creativity of Magistick and The Composer. The song is one of the most highly anticipated of the album and matches expectations.

‘Lungu Boy’ is a byproduct of Asake’s arena-selling global tours. He attempts to evolve beyond the patterns and formulas that catapulted him into fame, but the metamorphosis has some minute maladies. The truth is Asake’s two previous albums will do more for his global reach than the short tentacles of ‘Lungu Boy’ will ever do.