Nigerian singer and songwriter Asake creates a new Afrobeats sound that is deeply African and completely global.
Originally a dancer, he began recording music in 2018. In 2020, Asake starred in “Mr. Money,” a hit song he performed in nightclubs in Lagos and Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
2022 was his defining year.He signed a record deal with YBNL Nation and scored with “Mr. “Money with charisma.” He has since sold out international tour dates, including a show at New York's Barclays Center earlier this month, the first locally for an African act.
The singer sat down for an interview with Larry Madowo, host of CNN's African Voices Changemakers, following Asake's Afro Nation performance in Miami earlier this summer. The two discussed their meteoric rise to fame and what influenced their signature style.
Madowo: Do you feel like the fame came suddenly?
Asake: I didn't know you would come at this time. Everything just changed for me. Suddenly people in Dubai are singing it who don't even understand it; From there to London everyone just screams it without even knowing what they're saying. I am so happy that God gave me the knowledge and confidence to be where I am today because I don't know where I will be tomorrow.
Madowo: What do you think makes Afrobeats music so great? Why did it explode all over the world?
Asake: For me it's the spirit and that people from Nigeria and Africa are really committed to something and want to pick up where someone like Fela [Kuti] really left off and do it anyway. bigger because we love doing something bigger in Nigeria.
Madowo: You bring a lot of Fuji sound into your music; How would you describe your sound?
Asake: I grew up listening to Fuji [a musical genre that began with the Yoruba people in Nigeria].But I think I do a lot of things because I love having that vibe. It's like a little bit of Amapiano, a little bit of Afrobeat, a little bit of Fuji, a little bit of R&B, a little bit of hip hop, just to make Asake.
Madowo: What is your first memory of thinking, “I think I want to be an artist”? Do I think I'm going to be someone who puts on a show?
Asake: I fell in love with him.My father was a singer and my mother also danced a lot. I feel like it's kind of a family thing that's in my blood...but they didn't do it professionally. They just did it for the fun of the culture and for the fun of what they see around them.
Madowo: Why did you adopt your mother's name as your stage name?
Asake: I just like the feeling that comes with it, the fact that I love my mother and that they use my mother's name to call me. I know the type of mother I have and she is very powerful. I am Ahmed Ololade but now I have a strong name.
Madowo: Before you became a professional singer, you were a dancer; How did you move from dance to full-fledged music?
Asake: The main reason I gave up dancing is the love of money. I know I want to be very honest. Dancing is something I love. I can't even live without exercising, but I'm not sure I can make as much money as I want from dancing. I think music and dance go together because in a video without dancers this song seems boring.Even if you want to make it gangster-like, oh yeah, there are so many people crashing, you still have to use the dancers. So while they work together, I prefer to sing for the love of money (laughs).
Madowo: So if you had a little more money from dancing to be commercially successful as a dancer, would you do that?
Asake: No, I would play music and dance together. Then I will have more money (laughs).
Madowo: You met Olamide and that changed the course of your career. What influence did Olamide have on Asake?
Asake: How can I explain this? You know when you try to go down the stairs and there's no elevator or stairs? How can you get there? I think the best way to explain it is that Olamide is like an elevator and stairs to get to the top.
Madowo: How do you prepare for a performance? How dare you present a show to thousands of people?
Asake: I see the art. I want to see another Asake complete. For me, acting is like a film.Each song should have its own mood and appearance on stage. Everything works together, like the sound, me personally and the performance of the video itself.
Madowo: What dreams do you still have?
Asake: I want the songs that everyone in the world will sing. I don't know how to do it, but the most important thing for me is to keep going.
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