Did Asake get it right on the first try, with ‘Mr. Money With The Vibe?’

With what is being touted as the biggest debut by an African artiste in modern history, Asake’s ‘Mr Money With The Vibe’ has been shattering and setting new records across streaming platforms and countries ever since its arrival on the midnight of 8th September, 2022. Aside its record setting, the general reception to this body of work has been phenomenal; carrying the same momentum of awe and exhilaration Asake has had with its three lead singles had.

On the surface, it would seem the 27 year-old singer popped up out of nowhere, but what we are seeing is years of hard work and fine-tuning of his sound into this ‘Nigerian Street-Pop’ artiste who is blending elements of Afrobeats, Fuji Music, Amapiano and Rap; which is driven by mettlesome and brazen lyrics of Pidgin and Yoruba.

One might ask, is this album really worth the hype? Well, let’s find out at the end of this track-by-track analysis of Asake’s debut album, ‘Mr Money With The Vibe.’

As has become tradition in recent times, most Afrobeats albums start off with a rather, sombre track. On the intro song, ‘Dull,’ Asake is quite reflective of the life behind him, and expectant of the life ahead. He makes a promise to himself and every well-wisher to not take for granted his new status and blessings.

On track 2, ‘Terminator,’ which is the third lead single off the entire project, he leans into his eclectic style of writing and delivery. The actual meat of this whole cook up is in the second verse, riding the beat immaculately for those 17 seconds.

Track 3 happens to be one of the fan favorites, which is no wonder why his label boss Olamide, personally posted a snippet of the track some hours ahead of the album’s release. The production on ‘Organise’ takes a different turn with the chord progression, which perfectly carries the message conveyed in Asake’s signature ‘choir’ delivery. It’s now a ‘dog eat dog’ world, and it’s only fitting the singer provided a mantra that’s going to influence numerous social media posts in the coming months, that, “some of us are wise, every other person overwise.”

‘Peace Be Unto You’ sees Asake’s religious influence come to bear. Real name Ahmed Ololade Asake, one can hear him make Islamic references throughout the song. It is also interesting to hear that offset triangle sound that comes in at the second half of each chorus stanza.

Again, the chord progression, my God! Those 32 seconds of instrumentation before the vocals come in on ‘Dupe’ is divine. For a song of its calibre selling out hope to the hopless, it definitely does tick all the right boxes.

Track 6, ‘Muse’ is cut like an interlude. It makes a lot of sense to have a track that’s short, sweet and different (production-wise) halfway through the album. Why am I not surprised Asake says, “never knew I would fall in love on the dance floor?” For someone who’s dictated what our feet move to since the start of 2022, it’s rather poetic this same offering has been a blessing to him.

The percussion on ‘Joha’ looks like it came straight from a street carnival. Those high-pitched backings also add an enthralling feel to it. I can only imagine a DJ dropping this song at a peak time in the club, madness!

Track 8, ‘Nzaza’ strays briefly from the club-ready bangers Asake has come to be known for. On a more reflective song with a laid back approach to production, the singer stresses on how important hard work is to success.

As one is working hard to hit that pinnacle of success, it is pertinent to have guidance and protection from the higher power from above; which is what Asake sings about on ‘Ototo.’ Its ‘Ghetto Gospelesque’ tone sets it up to be the ideal sequel to ‘Nzaza.’

On ‘Reason,’ for the first time on this album, Asake gives a shoutout to his producer Magicsticks; saying, “Magic, Magic, can you imagine?” It’s understandable if they are both in awe. Until the start of this year, they were relatively unknown, now they command the attention of millions. Shoutout to Russ for killing the feature as well.

Then to the penultimate song, ‘Sunmomi.’ This song in particular stayed true to the Amapiano sound; lots of drums, minimal lyrics and spaced out instrumentation.

Finally, to one of the biggest songs to drop this year, ‘Sungba (Remix)’ ft Burna Boy. This song has had people in a chokehold since it cane out earlier this year. Burna Boy’s guest verse is definitely up there with some of the best Afrobeats guest verses ever.

Now to answer the question from the outset; yes, this album is definitely worth the hype. It is amazing how short and straightforward it is, taking into account people’s limited attention span these days. To Magicsticks, who produced and engineered the entire album, I doff my hat. And to Olamide, thank you; Thank you once again for being the gift that keeps on giving, musically. It would be interesting in the coming times to see if this body of work would be Asake’s chef d’oeuvre, or he’ll be able to top it.