Olamide, Fireboy DML & Asake: It's a high-speed chase on the ground and air in the 'Uptown Disco' music video
Want to hit the road at record speed? How about soaring the skies and taking off? Maybe both? It’s all going down - and up - for the trio of Olamide, Fireboy DML and Asake these days with anthems like ‘Uptown Disco’ getting the visual treatment.
Want to hit the road at record speed? How about soaring the skies and taking off? Maybe both? It’s all going down - and up - for the trio of Olamide, Fireboy DML and Asake these days with anthems like ‘Uptown Disco’ getting the visual treatment.
It’s all types of celebrations and fun vibes going in this cinematically glowing presentation. Turn up.
Just under a year after the release of his critically acclaimed Unruly album, which has amassed over 300 million global streams, and amidst rumours of his “retirement” swirling the zeitgeist, renowned African music icon and Nigerian rap legend OLAMIDE is back with a surprise new EP titled IKIGAI / 生き甲斐, VOL.1. The EP title, derived from the Japanese concept of ‘ikigai’, which means "a reason for living", serves as a thematic foundation for the project, where Olamide explores the intersections of passion, profession, and purpose. Throughout the EP, Olamide reaffirms his position as a trailblazer in global music, delivering on innovation and deep resonance yet again.
The Ikigai / 生き甲斐, Vol. 1 EP showcases Olamide’s genre-defying artistic versatility, and puts his legendary status in global music in no doubt. Sonically, the EP is a glorious fusion of hip-hop, afrobeats, dancehall, amapiano, and pop music, which offers a rich tapestry of diverse eclectic sounds, as Olamide continues to push the boundaries of his sound. Diving into themes of life, love, and power, the 7-track project reflects a new chapter in Olamide’s career, marked by a renewed passion for music, and a deeper connection to his artistry, underscoring his continuous evolution on this journey towards his ‘ikigai’ – his true reason for living and fulfilment.
Each track on Ikigai / 生き甲斐, Vol. 1 offers a distinct musical experience, with the opener ‘Metaverse’ introducing listeners to the EP's eclectic sonic landscape, followed by the high-energy ‘Uptown Disco’ featuring Olamide’s proteges Fireboy DML and Asake, while ‘Knockout’ with Moroccan Algerian songstress Sabri adds a soulful and sensual undertone to the project. ‘Hello Habibi’ sees Olamide exploring Arabic musical influences, demonstrating his global outlook, while the spiritual ‘Morowore’ reveals more of Olamide's introspective side. The EP culminates with the nostalgic ‘Synchro System’, which reunites Olamide with YBNL alumni Pheelz, Young Jonn, and Lil Kesh.
MORE ABOUT OLAMIDE
Olamide is one of Nigeria’s biggest stars, and one of the most successful artists to emerge out of Africa, with over one billion streams of his music worldwide. Equally at home emoting over a buoyant afrobeats rhythms, as he is rhyming over a pulsing trap beat, Olamide is known for his multilingual-style tracks that showcase his abilities to rap and sing in English, Pidgin and Yoruba. His classic discography has birthed essential afrobeats classics – from ‘Wo!’, ‘Motigbana’, and ‘Bobo’, to ‘Fada Fada’ with Phyno, ‘Kana’ featuring Wizkid, and ‘Infinity’ featuring Omah Lay.
He is also the founder of YBNL Nation, which he has grown into one of Nigeria’s most influential record labels. Since forming the imprint more than a decade ago, Olamide has not only helped launch the careers of afrobeats royalty such as Fireboy DML, Asake, and Adekunle Gold, but has also built a creative community and platform that champions the authentic and innovative sound of Nigerian music. The African icon’s impact and artistry have also garnered the acclaim of global tastemakers such as Billboard, Pitchfork, Forbes, Rolling Stone, and The GRAMMYs, among others.
Olamide shared his classic debut album Rapsodi in 2011, and has since dropped more than ten massive projects including last year’s Unruly, and the 2021 album UY Scuti, which have combined for over 500 million streams, as well as 2020’s widely successful Carpe Diem that birthed the massive hits ‘Infinity’ and ‘Loading’. Every song he touches in the past 18 months has turned to gold, whether it’s ‘Kpe Paso’ with Wande Coal, or ‘Amapiano’ and ‘New Religion’ with Asake, and as he returns with Ikigai, Olamide continues to show why he is one of the biggest stars on the continent.
Fireboy DML: The 'Obaa Sima' is all about turning up and celebrating l-o-v-e
Could you use some love to warm up up these days? Look no further than what international rap crooner Fireboy DML is serving up for The Culture courtesy of the newly released ‘Obaa Sima’ music video.
Could you use some love to warm up up these days? Look no further than what international rap crooner Fireboy DML is serving up for The Culture courtesy of the newly released ‘Obaa Sima’ music video.
It’s all types of turn up vibes and if you’re big into storytelling, the twist in the visual hits you hard. Tap in.
Award-winning Nigerian singer-songwriter Fireboy DML rings in the New Year in Ghana with compelling visuals for his latest single “Obaa Sima” (via YBNL Nation/EMPIRE). A soul-stirring exploration of love and life's transience, “Obaa Sima" unfolds with a relaxed ambiance, skillfully blending instrumental strings and a gentle drum beat to emphasize Fireboy's soulful vocals. Urgent pleas and poignant metaphors permeate the lyrics conveying a profound sense of longing and also serving as a reflective piece, inviting fans to appreciate the fleeting beauty of the present moment.
In the accompanying music video, which was shot in Ghana and directed by the talented Jyde Ajala, we are taken on a visual journey that enhances the song's emotional depth. The narrative unfolds with Fireboy captivated by a beautiful woman, with their love story set against breathtaking backdrops, as the video seamlessly combines moments of joy, dance, and celebration at a vibrant festival. The video then takes an unexpected dramatic turn, showcasing life’s impermanence, as the storyline shifts between scenes of camping, dancing, and celebration to craft a compelling narrative with a balance of suspense and emotion.
In addition to “Obaa Sima,” Fireboy launched four other impactful records in 2023, “Someone”, “YAWA,”, “OH MY,” and “Outside” ft. Blaqbonez along with becoming a heavily sought after feature artist, which serves as a testament to his unwavering musical prowess. Persisting in his unstoppable momentum, on the awards circuit he was honored for chart-topping single,"Peru,”(which achieved Platinum status in the U.S. and 2x Platinum in the UK) for “International Song of the Year” at the 2023 BRIT Awards, the “Most Performed Work of the Year” at the2023 BMI London Awards, as well as both “Song of the Year" and "Best Collaboration" at the 2023 Trace Awards. His song “Bandana”with Asake was nominated for “Best Afrobeats” at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards as well as the 2023 Headies Awards for “Viewer's Choice.”
ABOUT FIREBOY DML
Dubbed the ‘future’ of Afrobeats, Fireboy DML first emerged on the Nigerian music scene in 2019 with the re-release of his breakout single “Jealous” which was originally a part of YBNL’s 2018 collaborative album, YBNL Mafia Family. On June 14, 2019, he followed up “Jealous” with the explosive romantic number “What If I Say” and later that year, on the 29th of November released his debut album, Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps. LTG had no features for a debut album and amassed over 100 million streams by January 2020. The album maintained the #1 position across the Nigerian charts for over 12 weeks with ‘Jealous’ becoming one of the most played songs on African radio stations that year. Building on the success of LTG, Fireboy followed up his debut with an inventive sophomore project, Apollo. It received a whopping rating of 8.3 on Pitchfork, amongst other accolades. In 2021, Fireboy released his biggest single yet, “Peru”. The single would go on to feature Ed Sheeran in an explosive remix peaking at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and garnering over 20.6 million Spotify streams, earning it a hallowed place as the most streamed song in Nigeria in early 2022. His newest album, Playboy, sees the sensual, sweet-natured artist shift gears into a confident, self-possessed bad boy persona resulting in a Pitchfork review of the album, which got a 7.4 rating. He has been nominated for a number of awards including the Best International Act award at the 2022 BET Awards, where he became the first Nigerian artist to perform on the BET stage and the NAACP Image Awards in 2021, amongst others. Fireboy remains one of the leading Afrobeats talents reinventing a wholly global future of the fast-rising genre.
Fireboy DML: The new 'YAWA' music video is all types of celebration vibes
We might be well beyond Father’s Day but it doesn’t mean the warm and cozy barbecue vibes need to slow down, right? Turns out hip-hop artist Fireboy DML is keeping things sizzling with the rollout of his new ‘YAWA’ single and music video.
We might be well beyond Father’s Day but it doesn’t mean the warm and cozy barbecue vibes need to slow down, right? Turns out hip-hop artist Fireboy DML is keeping things sizzling with the rollout of his new ‘YAWA’ single and music video.
It’s more than just audio heat. The visual brings you into a celebratory and fun vibe from start to finish. Peep the details and keep scrolling to see Fireboy in action.
Today, award-winning Nigerian singer-songwriter Fireboy DML drops his second single of the year “YAWA” via YBNL/EMPIRE. This release comes on the heels of the emotional record “Someone” which explored the ups and downs of romance as an in-demand music artist.
Fireboy opens the song with conviction, delivering lines like, “Man on a mission, I see no competition”. The song features an up-tempo beat characterized by a blend of traditional drumming and a modern Afro-pop cadence. The bridge reinforces this nonchalant attitude of the track as he boasts “don’t give a f*ck”, an attitude shown by letting worries go and “giving it all on the dancefloor 24/7”. The song ends with a harmony of vocals and a string instrumental, evoking a feeling of all of your problems washing away.
In the accompanying video, directed by Primo and Perliks, Fireboy can be seen riding top down in a red Cadillac with a white leather interior, wind in his face, and the city lights illuminating the sky. A high-spirited tone is set as he cruises down the street against the dazzling skyline with his love interest by his side. He is later shown surrounded by women with their heads in the clouds, marveling at his success and reading a newspaper headline about him to which he brushes off dismissively. The video ends with Fireboy crumpling up the newspaper and throwing it at the camera, exhibiting an uninterested, “no yawa” attitude.
Using his innovative yet global artistry, Fireboy released his third studio album Playboy in March of 2022, which has amassed over 2.6 billion streams to date, alongside platinum single “Peru” which has surpassed 1.6 billion streams. Accompanying the release of the new album, he set out for his month-long global tour which kicked off on March 16th in Switzerland making stops in Paris, Netherlands, and Denmark before coming to an end in Poland. This followed on the heels of his successful first headlining US tour, “Apollo”, which made stops across the US in Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, Texas, Colorado, California, and Washington. Fireboy was nominated for “Best International Act” at the 2022 BET Awards where he made history becoming the first Nigerian artist to perform on the BET Awards stage and is slated to perform at this year's Afro Nation Portugal.
Want to learn more about Fireboy? Keeping tabs on DML’s grind? Say less.
Dubbed the ‘future’ of Afrobeats, Fireboy DML first emerged on the Nigerian music scene in 2019 with the re-release of his breakout single “Jealous” which was originally a part of YBNL’s 2018 collaborative album, YBNL Mafia Family. On June 14, 2019, he followed up “Jealous” with the explosive romantic number “What If I Say” and later that year, on the 29th of November released his debut album, Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps. LTG had no features for a debut album and amassed over 100 million streams by January 2020. The album maintained the #1 position across the Nigerian charts for over 12 weeks with ‘Jealous’ becoming one of the most played songs on African radio stations that year.
Building on the success of LTG, Fireboy followed up his debut with an inventive sophomore project, Apollo. It received a whopping rating of 8.3 on Pitchfork, amongst other accolades. In 2021, Fireboy released his biggest single yet, “Peru”. The single would go on to feature Ed Sheeran in an explosive remix peaking at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and garnering over 20.6 million Spotify streams, earning it a hallowed place as the most streamed song in Nigeria in early 2022. His newest album, Playboy, sees the sensual, sweet-natured artist shift gears into a confident, self-possessed bad boy persona resulting in a Pitchfork review of the album, which got a 7.4 rating. He has been nominated for a number of awards including the Best International Act award at the 2022 BET Awards, where he became the first Nigerian artist to perform on the BET stage and the NAACP Image Awards in 2021, amongst others. Fireboy remains one of the leading Afrobeats talents reinventing a wholly global future of the fast-rising genre.