Our Song Of The Week!
In The Bet, the thirteenth episode of the first season of the famous American Police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago, two of the show’s main characters are tied in their spunky, in-house competition for most criminals caught. To bring their vehement little affair to a head, they convene on the set deadline, doing a little shit-talking and just before they set out to catch more criminals in a bid to win the contest, Jake asks both Santiago “Are you ready?” and she replies succinctly and cockily “I was born ready!”.
While Santiago’s reply is a well known trope at this point, almost cliche even, there are no words that better sum up Ahmed Ololade Asake, simply known as Asake. Without a doubt, the Lagos-based singer has been the hottest artist in the country since the release of the mellifluous “Omo Ope” at the beginning of the year. While he’s endured some false starts in the past ー he enjoyed some virality with last year’s “Mr Money” ー the release of “Omo Ope” would probably go down as the turning point of his career. Since then, he’s crammed in the space of six months, highly notable and commendable efforts that might take many years: signing for one of the country’s biggest labels, releasing a successful EP and producing about 5 mega-hits (all accompanied by dazzling visuals) that have had the country in an unyielding chokehold.
The latest of his hits “Peace Be Unto You” probably underlines his talent, superstar status and most importantly, current undeniability best. Weeks before its release, Asake teased the infectious single with a snippet that was about two-minute and fourteen seconds long. As you would expect, it sent fans and admirers into a frenzy. He was about to do it again. When the single got released, it went off the charts, garnering millions of views and plays in a matter of days and it's not hard to see why. His concoction of Fuji, Afropop, scatterbrained lyrics and kwaito-inspired basslines is almost next to none, conjuring melodies and flows that’ll have even the stiffest of bodies rocking.
Perhaps the most shocking revelation about “Peace Be Unto You” is that its runtime is two minutes and thirty-three seconds. Take a minute to soak that in. Asake released a two-minute fourteen seconds snippet of a two-minute thirty-three seconds record and it still became a mega-hit. That kind of move can only come from an act that possesses gargantuan confidence. When you take into account that he’s a relatively new act pulling off such moves, it makes it even crazier. He’s an undeniable superstar, a singer blessed with a mouthful of melodies and a headful of lamba. There’s no shade of doubt, Asake was born for this.
