Without any doubt, 2022 was honestly a great year for Ahmed Ololade popularly known as Asake. Let’s go back and have a look at how 2022 have been for him.
Just like every other Nigerians and most artistes, Asake faced hardship when he was just starting and venturing into the music industry. He had lived through the hardship of what life throws at him and didn’t give up. He is just an explanation of what people say that “When life throws lemons at you, squeeze it and make lemonades”.
Asake first career was dance but he changed his pursuit while he was studying theater arts at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife. In 2015, Ololade Asake decided to switch into music and he continued diligently in it until his breakout season in 2022.
Although Asake started releasing his songs in 2019 but it took a whole year of consistency for him to go viral when he dropped one of his hit songs “Mr Money” which was a club banger as at that time.
With people like Olamide and Dagrin that he looks up to in the industry, he takes his life experiences and hustle spirit from the hardship he had experienced before coming into limelight.
He accomplishes this through the spectacular use of some spiritual affirmations and a sonic mixture of Fuji music and sermon-like lyrics. He also uses different harmonies amplified with some choir-backed vocals to help him glide through thematic subtexts and his most used amapiano sounds. “Mr. Money” was what opened doors for him and he also confirmed that.
Asake got his major breakthrough earlier this year when popular rapper and artiste, Olamide, hopped on his “Omo Ope” song and a remix of the song was released and afterwards he was signed to the YBNL record label and that became a breakthrough for him in the music industry.
His first project after signing for YBNL was his EP which he titled “Ololade Asake” and it topped all Nigerian charts especially a song from the EP titled “Sungba” which made waves. “Sungba” also earned him a feature from one of the most greatest artiste in Nigeria currently known as Burna Boy and the remix went on to become a force in the entire continent and also other countries in the world.
Continuing with this force and drive, Asake went on to release other singles and also some features too. His feature with DJ SPINALL on PALAZZO also went on to break all charts. The snippet of the song has been trending on the internet even long before it was released for listeners. By the time the song was released, it became number one on charts and everyone who listened to it loved the song.
Peace Be Unto You was also released alongside Terminator as well as his feature on Fireboy DML Bandana. Each of these releases made Asake a strong force in the Nigerian music industry and he went on to become a global force and had a very large fanbase.
His dominance of the year was so great when his debut album, Mr Money With The Vibe, was revealed in August. The album had a record for the highest charting debut album by a Nigerian ever when it debuted at number one on Nigeria’s streaming charts and number 66 on the Billboard 200. It also received great and amazing positive reviews from critics and listeners, and it most recently debuted at number 39 on Rolling Stone’s list of the top 100 albums of the year.
Without forgetting Asake’s fundamental thoughts of life, hustling, and spirituality as symbolized, Asake is someone who has worked hard to get where he is, the project managed to accomplish all of his set goals. Club hits like “Joha” and “Organise” feature more great rhythms. While songs like “Dull,” “Ototo,” and “Nzaza” walk through a line of prophecy and upliftment. The artists featured on the album are American rapper Russ and Burna Boy, and it’s because they share a similar musical background and understanding with Asake.
With the help of the release of his great videos by TG Omori, he got the attention of his listeners and also had millions and millions of views on each of the videos he released because TG omori understood the assignment. Asake’s fashion sense and his love for oversized clothes of majorly Balenciaga and Dior have also grown to become a major force in the Nigeria Fashion Industry as most people always want to dress the way he dresses.
Since the release of his debut album, Asake has grown to become a global force and has broken amazing records but nationally and internationally. He sold out concerts in North America in eight American cities. He also performed at the famous 02 Arena in London where he sold out tickets in few minutes after it was released which prompted him to add two more dates to it and that was also sold out in minutes. All these success didn’t happen in one day but thank God for humble beginnings in the streets of Lagos.
Tiwa Savage went on to release Loaded and Asake was featured in the song which might or will be the last appearance of Asake in 2022. It is with no doubt that Asake became people’s favorite in 2022 and his style of music and famous Amapiano instrumentation became a global force this year.
Asake, one of the artistes who made 2022 a great year in the Nigerian and global music industry.