Ololade mi Asake, Great guy. Asake has been a wonder to everyone connected to the music industry (artists and fans) in the last 2 years. He has achieved some unprecedented fears in just a short while, incredible numbers across all streaming platforms, international recognitions and features, Tours and great shows all around the world. What a guy.
One thing that stands out in all of these successes is the fact that Asake has achieved all of these feats with majorly just one formula – Amapiano, log drums, crowd vocals, street lamba. This formula has worked perfectly for him since his major debut into the mainstream. To break this down properly, let’s revert back to his Debut EP – Ololade. This formula was first properly noticed in ‘Sungba’ which was his second monster hit on this run. The use of the Amapiano beat, log drums, crowd vocals was clear in that track which was the last track on the EP. The song blew so much that it got Burna Boy on the remix and from there on nothing remained the same both for Asake and for the industry.
Asake is a true musician, one who pays attention to every detail and everything peculiar to his sound. His ability to mesh elements of different genres of music such as Fuji, hip hop, Afrobeats/pop is incredible. His lyrics, largely in Yoruba, are as well a testament to the fact that he is a true musician. His lyrics are deep, carefully written and also full of street lamba and a lot of vibes. All of these have sort of become the Asake Formula which has worked greatly for him. His debut album – Mr Money with the vibe – followed this sequence and the album is regarded as one of the greatest debut albums in terms of quality, commercial success and general acceptance.
After the success of his debut album, everyone thought the formula was going to change as any other artist would do but to the surprise, Asake stuck to his formula. He went on to release his sophomore album – Work of Art- using the same formula and of course he got an even better result than that he got from his debut album. He found a way to keep his audience hooked with the same pattern and this is unprecedented, no one has ever dropped two albums using the same pattern and achieved success.
With this, Asake has been able to popularize the Amapiano sound as he is now performing on global stages and he is accepted globally. He has broken the language barrier as people who don’t understand Yoruba language are able to relate and vibe to his music. Also, his music has taken street hop to the global stage, an achievement that seemed impossible before him. It is important to note that Asake has equally proven himself as a great musician and that he can make great records even without the formula as seen on tracks like lonely at the top, Nzaza, Ototo and so on.
However, there is also trouble in the land because of this formula. In two years, Asake has shown the industry that you can be successful even with a monotonous sound. The only problem now is, the industry got the wrong message. Music fans are now begging for a new sound as all songs are beginning to sound the same and boring. Enter the studio, record a verse, lift crowd vocals and add to it, add an Amapiano beat and log drums and boom song is out, that’s how Nigerian artists make songs now. This formula has enhanced laziness, mediocrity and boredom in the industry. Creativity is now lacking because everyone seems to be following the working formula. The artists who have refused to join the bandwagon have suffered greatly as no one is listening to anything that doesn’t have log drums. One can only wonder what will happen to some artists after this trend dies off.
Asake’s music has been a blessing to him, the industry, the fans and to his label. It is only unfortunate that everyone has decided to copy his formula instead of sticking to what works for them. Sooner or later, this trend will fade off, Asake will stand the test of time, the same cannot be said for a lot of other artists that either jumped ship or blew up off this Formula. Anyways, only time will tell.
Author: Babawale Raphael
