With momentum on his side and listeners still very much eating from his palms, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Asake elected to release his third album in three years as he aimed to complete the fastest trifecta (having three consecutive top quality, universally successful albums)trifecta in Nigerian mainstream music since the turn of the century.
Asake’s first two LPs pack the achieved fusion of Amapiano log drums, Fuji, and hip-hop influences excellently delivered through bustling energetic cadences that rocketed him to superstardom. With his place at the upper echelon of Nigeria music firmly secured, Ololade Ahmed Asake decided to offer something different on his third LP as he linked up with new collaborators and cut back on the familiar elements that define his music. Perhaps the conversation over the diminishing returns of the Amapiano fusion Asake popularised might have contributed to his decision to explore new sonic directions on his third album.
While ‘Lungu Boy’ shows a confident, ambitious, and adventurous Asake, the bulk of the songs with which he kicks off this artistic evolution are weak in their lyricism, timid in their delivery, and the production unflattering of his artistry.
While “Lungu Boy” loosely translates to “Street Boy,” Asake appears to limit his street and cultural influences in favour of the glamour of international fame.
Instead of Lungu Boy, listeners get Lungu Boy goes international with most of the songs lacking the magnetism and cutting edge that shapes Asake’s core and underscores his rise.
Like ‘Dull’ and ‘Olorun’, the intros of his debut and sophomore albums succinctly conveyed Asake‘s state of mind, ‘Start,’ the intro of ‘Lungu Boy’ on which he samples Asa‘s ‘Eye Adaba’ places him in a confident Joie de vivre state of mind where he intends to bask in the euphoria of his global stardom.
It’s perhaps this mindset to create an album reflective of his global rise that influences the sound that leans on mid-tempo records marked by Spanish guitars, jazz horns, dance rhythm, and bounce music which struggled to fit into his Afrobeats core.
The mid-tempo opening part of the album quickly prepares listeners for what to expect as Asake notably lacked vigor and soul in his delivery.
While he combines smoothly with Wizkid on the reflective ‘MMS’ which packs the mid-tempo flow the Grammy winner favours, Asake’s verse is beaten down and weak.
If Asake shows range by singing in Spanish in ‘Mood’ where he reflects on the complexity of fame and success over production that carries Afro-Caribbean elements, the outcome albeit enjoyable pales in comparison with what he achieved on the Santeria-defined ‘Yoga’.
While the Spanish guitar and bounce music fusion of‘My Heart’ shows P Priime‘s production ability, it doesn’t flatter Asake’s cadences as his delivery drags and melodies fail to hit familiar levels.
For some part, the issue with ‘Lungu Boy’ is productions that excel in themselves but aren’t complimentary of Asake’s artistry, or at least help him properly execute his vision. It’s difficult not to ascribe this issue to the absence of long – term collaborators Olamide Baddo who co-wrote a better part of Asake’s first two albums and Magicsticks who produced the same. Without these creative figures who could bring Asake’s essence into the new territories he wanted to explore, the Grammy nominee sounded fatigued and unoriginal.
On the chest-thumping ‘Worldwide,’ Asake appears restricted and struggles to replicate the swaggering delivery with which he dazzles on previous records. When ‘Worldwide’ is juxtaposed with his previous similar mid-tempo records punctuated by log drums like ‘Muse’ off his debut album, the fine details of the backup vocals, crafty adlibs, and the spark in his vocals are notably missing.
On ‘Suru’ feat Stormzy, Asake leans towards his cultural roots by finding inspiration from Haruna Ishola‘s classic. While the production might have been engineered to accommodate Stormzy or cater to the UK Afrobeats scene, it stunts what could have been a song grounded in indigenous Yoruba music as the Gangan (Talking drum), Bata, and Sakara that should have taken a primary role were reduced to cameos. An example of what ‘Suru’ could have been is Seyi Vibez‘s ‘Different Pattern’ rooted in appropriate indigenous Yoruba music production that elevates the record.
Asake’s tired and uninspired lyricism is evident in ‘Skating’ where he chooses to sing about his newfound hobby on a song he struggles to craft a decent hook or conjure a compelling delivery. This issue reoccurs in ‘I Swear’ where Asake again tries to unsuccessfully replicate the blusterous lyricism, Lamba infusion (Nigerian colloquial vocabulary for painting exaggerated and boastful narratives of a person, thing, or event), and electrifying delivery on records like ‘Great Guy’, ‘Remember,’ and ‘What’s Up My G’ off his sophomore album.
Even when he named a song ‘Ligali,’ a title that pays tribute to the classic vocabulary in Fuji music, the production ventured into bounce music territory with Asake’s tired verse and weak chorus giving the listeners little to work with.
If ‘Whine’ feat Ludmilla is a trip to the Caribbean, the journey is a turbulent one with Asake struggling to deliver on the dancehall bounce so much that the Brazilian superstar’s verse is unable to salvage the record.
The best parts of ‘Lungu Boy’ come from familiar pieces of Asake where he successfully delivers the brilliance that endeared listeners to him. Sarz‘s mindblowing production on the House music leaning ‘Mentally,’ the party-starting bounce of ‘Uh Yeah’, and the uptempo bounce music and log drum fusion of‘Active’ featuring Travis Scott see Asake rediscover the spark and swagger that sets him apart.
“I no get name, I know say na sound,” Asake sings on ‘MMS’ about how his vibrant sound rocketed him from obscurity to stardom. He rediscovers this sound on ‘Wave’ featuring Central Cee where he reconnects with Magicsticks who jolted life into the tiring Afrobeats Amapiano fusion.
Then there’s the Fuji-inspired ‘Fuji Vibes’ where like on his hit single ‘Joha,’ he turned one of his earlier records into a fan favourite even though the song could have used more live Fuji music vocal elements.
It does appear that ‘Lungu Boy’ is a cross-over album for Asake and this is evident in the guest verses of global hip hop icons Travis Scott, CentralCee, and Stormzy. However, Asake left behind the decisive and exciting part of his artistry in his cross-over attempt.
Some observers may argue that the appreciation of ‘Lungu Boy’ is hampered by listeners’ love for Asake’s Amapiano fusion. However, this point doesn’t hold water as Asake has delivered some of his best efforts on mid-tempo non-Amapiano records like ‘Dull,’ ‘Olorun,’ ‘Muse,’ ‘Nzaza,’ ‘Mogbe,’ and ‘Lonely At The Top’.
The issue with ‘Lungu Boy’ is simply that during its 48-minute runtime, it doesn’t carry enough of the Asake listeners have come to love and enjoy. For many of these disappointed fans, they will have to find solace in Asake’s older albums which will likely see a swell in listenership in the coming weeks.
While evolution is inevitable for an artist with Asake’s talent, he appeared to have gone at it alone and didn’t go far.
Although the album is Asake’s weakest, it can be a commercial success, especially in a streaming era where one major hit shapes the narrative of an album. And ‘Lungu Boy’ has potential hit records in ‘Uhh Yeah’ and ‘Fuji Vibes’.
There were high expectations that Asake would complete an unprecedented trifecta by making it three critically acclaimed albums in three years. Sadly, his attempt with ‘Lungu Boy’ doesn’t hit the mark.
