Asake: Lungu Boy review – Nigerian superstar trips across the Black diaspora, with help from Stormzy

Asake: Lungu Boy review – Nigerian superstar trips across the Black diaspora, with help from Stormzy

(YBNL Nation/Empire)
Although not as strong as last year’s Work of Art, Asake’s third album is rich with compositional detail and guest spots from the likes of Travis Scott and Central Cee

With his 2023 release Work of Art, Nigerian vocalist Asake set a high-water mark for albums in the impressive recent wave of west African pop, his serenely lilting top lines underpinned with the deep and dynamic Afro-house style of amapiano. While his follow-up isn’t as consistently strong, it’s more versatile, going on a trip across the Black diaspora that he has enchanted to arena-filling success.

He sometimes uses his considerable charisma to paper over songwriting cracks: there really isn’t much of a melody to Skating or the pulsating synthwave of Uhh Yeahh, atmospheric though they are. But the album is otherwise tuneful and rich with compositional detail: improvised flute, saxophone and muted trumpet frequently float across the backdrops, gorgeously human against the drum programming and penetrating amapiano bass stabs.

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