Why I sing in Yoruba – Asake

Nigerian music star, Ahmed Ololade, aka, Asake, says he feels more ‘comfortable’ expressing himself in Yoruba in his songs.

The ‘Mr Money With The Vibes’ crooner said this during an Instagram interactive session with fans, adding that although  he can sing in English, he prefers Yoruba.

Asake, went live on Instagram to chat with his fans after recently  releasing his new album, ‘Lungu Boy’, and a curious fan  asked him why he always sings in Yoruba, his native language.

However, seemingly enraged Asake responded that he was more comfortable singing in his native language  and whoever  does not  appreciate his music in Yoruba should stop listening altogether.

He said: “I am more comfortable singing in Yoruba,  it’s not that I can’t sing in English. If you fvck with me, fvck with me with my Yoruba. If not, then don’t”.

NAN reports that all three of Asake’s albums, including “Mr Money WithThe Vibes”, “Work of Art”, and the latest “Lungu Boy”, feature predominantly Yoruba lyrics.

However, his hit song “Amapiano” was nominated for “Best African Music Performance” category at the 2024 Grammy Award, despite being sung mainly in Yoruba.

‘Lungu Boy’ was released on August 9 and it features several superstars including  Wizkid, British rappers Central Cee and Stormzy, American superstar Travis Scott, and Brazilian singer Ludmila.

The album tallied 5.86 million streams on Spotify Nigeria on its opening day, making it  a new record on Spotify Nigeria, breaking the previous record of 4.91 million streams held by Davido’s ‘Timeless’.

The second track of ‘Lungu Boy’, ‘MMS’ recorded 870,577 streams on its first day of release on Spotify Nigeria ,setting  a new record after surpassing the previous 626,000 streams set by Wizkid’s ‘IDK’ featuring  Zlatan.

The album release is coming  ahead of his upcoming ‘Lungu Boy’ tour which will include stops at the acclaimed O2 Arena in Uk and Madison Square Garden in the United States.