Identify: Asa returned home and turned in her brightest-sounding album yet
Largely produced by P.Priime, and featuring Wizkid, Amaarae & the Cavemen.
The sound of music playing on a loop was Asa’s favourite thing about her childhood. She’d fit her body between the wall and furniture, listening to her father, a cinematographer, pair the visual with the sonic. When her first album was released in 2007, the images were striking: deserted lovers, nations on fire, a thirst for life, for art. She was in her early 20s but already possessed a sharpened sense for detail and emotion.
“Since I was a child, if any adult asked me then ‘what would you want to become when you grow up?’ I never wavered from saying I wanted to become a musician.”
Born in Paris, her family’s relocation to Lagos came at a time when one remembered little of their day-to-day experiences. Her earliest perceptions of human life came in Nigeria’s premier metropolitan city. In Lagos, she was immersed into the bubble of a state regaining its cultural practices after years of being the headquarters of a military regime. There she made her dream work, little by little, pushing for artistic excellence where many others prized instant gratification.
Asa’s appeal cuts across a swathe of demographies. To the young, she is a beacon of originality and nerdy swag. To the middle-aged, she’s soundtracking the motions of their beleaguered storylines. To the aged, she’s an old soul, a lady they’d gladly sit and share stories with. To the international listener, Asa is a superstar in the mould of Fela Kuti, not quite possessed by his incandescent fury but wielding every bit of musical stamina, versed in several traditions and well positioned as a confluence for them.
Life being the source of Asa’s art, her albums are spaced out to encourage her immersion again into everyday life. “In between the spaces I’m writing, touring and I’m living normally,” she says. “But honestly most of the time I’m writing and I promised myself not to bring any album that I wasn’t happy with. I once recorded an entire album and put it in the bin.”
It was 2020, during Asa’s European tour when the pandemic broke out. She was somewhere in France and had thought she would stay there for its entirety but sensing the imminent coldness of a city on lockdown, she returned to Lagos. “When I came to Lagos what I did was throw my door open,” she says. She was working on her fifth album, two years after ‘Lucid’, an album suffused with some of her most heart-wrenching stories on love and loss. This time the energy was markedly different. Collaborators thronged into her house, creating songs in her living room with a view of the lake and blooming vegetable patches.
“Home is different,” she says of the atmosphere that inspired the album. “Being unstressed and being familiar with the people I was working with, as opposed to going to a studio elsewhere, like in LA or in Paris. It was just really relaxed, nothing that tells of time and schedule.” Titled ‘V’, it was preceded by the singles “Mayana” and “Ocean,” both produced by 20-year-old P.Priime, who handled ninety percent of the LP’s entire production. This immersive style of collaboration affects a feeling of closeness all through the record, setting the template for the musical features which, interestingly, portends the first time an Asa album will feature artists.
On “Ocean” WurlD’s lucent vocals float in the background, bringing a textured feel to Asa’s stirring meditation on self-love. “Good Times” was recorded with scintillating brother duo The Cavemen, whose trademark infusions of Highlife casts a beachside ambience over the record. “The Cavemen are special to me,” says Asa. “They inspire me. And you know, with me and Benjamin—I’m sure you’ve seen us on social media—we’re never up to no good, we’re always goofing around. “Good Times” is about friendship, it’s just about saying what you sometimes forget to say, just acknowledging friendship we see everyday and it’s become a background to our lives. Sometimes, stop and tell this person ‘thank you, you’re a good friend’.”
Among Asa’s favourite songs on ‘V’ is “All I Ever Wanted,” a poignant song about falling out of love and what it constitutes for the memory, left to pick up the shards of losing someone you’d rather have by your side. Featuring the iconoclast Amaarae, both voices meld in buttery perfection, layered distinctly over the stripped production. Asa had written the record for the Ghanaian star who she wished to feature on it. “That’s how my voice got to stay on ‘All I Ever Wanted’,” says Asa. “It’s a sarcastic song; Asa is always sarcastic. You can hear it in ‘Awe’ and ‘Bimpe’, you know. It’s just telling the person, ‘Have you forgotten how we were?’”
All through the album, you hear Asa angling towards the light. Her messages are clear and her desire for softness obvious. No other song encapsulates this feeling better than “IDG”, the mammoth collaboration with Wizkid. Some days before the album’s release, the ‘Made In Lagos’ star had shared a tweet announcing the song, which many noticed was exactly seven years since he’d tweeted that we wanted to work with Asa “so bad.” They had connected in Ghana sometime ago and after Asa wrote the song, Wiz came to mind. “I’ve always loved Wizkid’s melodies and always loved him as a very creative person,” Asa says. “With Wizkid, as with other people that I worked with on this record, one thing shines through—the album is just about vibes, good feeling, good times, friendship and love.”
It’s no coincidence that Asa’s brightest-sounding album is coming now. Shelving previous expressions of complicated loves for simpler gestures, she reinvents herself. The pop flourishes of the tape also owe its presence to Asa’s recent showcases of her playful side.
Asa has been really been vibing throughout her stay in Lagos and, more interestingly, getting caught on camera. “I’ve always been like this but you have to also understand that I’m very private and so the worst that you’ll see are scenes that someone caught,” she says, laughing. “Someone was very smart with holding the camera. It’s actually interesting that people are getting to know a little bit more about me and I’m getting comfortable with sharing that part. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt. Being able to do that now is because I’m okay with it.”
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This shifting perspective is responsible not only for the wholesome videos of Asa we’ve been getting but also influenced her creative process. A known perfectionist, she tells me she once returned to a song five years after she began writing it. “On ‘V’ it was a combination of being vulnerable and allowing myself not to think too much, not to be perfect, not to be precious,” she says.
Ultimately ‘V’ is coming from a place of authenticity and acceptance. If the Meji Alabi videos for the singles were anything to go by, this is a multidimensional universe made possible by black excellence as well as black vulnerability, the willingness to lean into the mundane aspects of one’s life and embrace the glory in it. “I’m just playing a lot on these songs, having a lot of fun,” she says. “It was fun to connect with creatives that I met on this project and on this journey and that really spilled into the recording.”
Listen to ‘V’ here.
IDENTIFY: MOONGA K. IS DEFYING SOCIETY’S NORMS
Maya Amolo Is Committed To Giving You The Sweetest Time
There’s undoubtedly more to come from the talented singer as she looks to solidify herself as one of the...
“Sweetest Time,” Maya Amolo’s latest single, is a soothing, lovesick confessional that mixes intimate, heartfelt lyricism with wistful production courtesy of Ugandan musician and producer SOULCHYD aka MAUIMØON. Alongside fellow Kenyan singer Ywaya Tajiri, the self-acclaimed sweetest girl delivers a lustrous duet that sees her soft vocals, which perfectly complement Tajiri’s more robust voice, skip and flit across moody synths, intensifying the spotlight on her wholehearted delivery. “I can feel you rushing through my system / Every single day it’s my religion,” she sings passionately halfway into the record. The whole thing sounds like the aural equivalent of a warm blanket; a truly affectionate record that immerses and envelopes its listeners in its warmth. This is the brand of vulnerable, understated R&B music that has been helping Amolo gain significant attention since she debuted in the pandemic year.
Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Amolo always had an affinity for music. The singer and producer, who took on piano and guitar lessons as a child, has previously credited acts like Brandy, Erykah Badu, Prince, and Kenyan musical icon Eric Wainaina as her early influences – and it’s easy to see how Amolo’s style draws from this strong lineage of musicians whose music is equally expansive, soothing and vulnerable. After years experimenting with different styles, recording covers to beats she ripped from YouTube and posting them on her Soundcloud page, Amolo released her debut project ‘Leave Me At The Pregame’ in 2020.
The EP, which quickly soared up the charts in Kenya, served as a brief but emphatic introduction to Amolo’s minimalistic take on R&B. Standouts like the emotive opener “Puddles,” “Lush Green”, and “Jokes” showcase her clever and poignant lyricism that reflects on themes of love, depression, and self-healing. Along with sparse, melancholic production and the icy sensuality of her voice, Amolo delivered a remarkable debut that made her one of the most promising figures in Nairobi’s alternative music scene. Two years after ‘Leave Me At The Pregame,’ the Kenyan rising star released her debut album, ‘Asali.’
‘Asali,’ which translates to “honey” in her native Kiswahili, showcased Amolo’s progression as both an artist and a human being, as she swapped out the sad-girl tunes that filled her debut EP for more vibrant and intricate records – thanks in part to Sir Bastien and Kenyan producer and rapper Lukorito – that explore themes of growth and the complexities and rich luster of love. The album’s lead singles, “Foundry” and the self-produced “Can’t Get Enough,” found relative success on streaming platforms, placing Amolo as one of the continent’s most exciting new R&B voices. About a year after the release of ‘Asali,’ Amolo updated the album with 8 new songs on a deluxe version that featured Kenyan stars like Bensoul, Xenia Manasseh and Zowie Kengocha.
In August 2024, a few months after she delivered a splendid Colors performance, Amolo released a new project titled ‘What a Feeling.’ The 5-track EP, which essentially serves as an ode to Amolo’s home city, Nairobi, sees her experimenting with an array of dance sub-genres without straying too far from her R&B roots. While the project still retains much of the melancholy and elegance that defined her earlier work, there’s a hypnotic and pulsating energy that courses through ‘What A Feeling,’ that highlights a shift in the singer’s sensibilities. Amolo’s honeyed vocals gently seep through subtle Dancehall, Electronic, R&B and House-inspired production and the accompanying visualizer, a mashup of camcorder footage of her and her friends in Nairobi, also adequately captures the charming and nocturnal vibe of the tape.
The project produced standout tracks like the sensual “Let It Flow,” the title track and “Take It,” which later got remixed by Ugandan singer Soundlykbb and rapper SGawD. With Amolo’s latest release, “Sweetest Girl,” the Kenyan rising star continues her intricate exploration of R&B music, merging it with varying styles to produce her own distinct and refreshing variant. There’s no telling what Amolo might do next, but with only a handful of releases to her name so far, there’s undoubtedly more to come from the talented singer as she looks to solidify herself as one of the genre’s most prominent faces across the continent.
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T.I Blaze Updates ‘Shakur’ EP With Deluxe Version
Following the success of “Trenches Luv,” the street-pop star is back with seven new songs on the deluxe...
Over the last few years, street-pop, a guttural version of afropop, has surged to mainstream popularity, birthing stars like Asake, Seyi Vibez, and Shallipopi. On the homefront, a generation of younger stars also put unique spins on the sound. Singer, T.I Blaze, has been a notable star in the sub-genre since his 2021 single, “Sometimes,” and a subsequent remix with icon, Olamide, launched him into a different stratosphere.
Since “Sometimes,” Blaze has established his profile as a reliable source for songs that reflect the pulse of the streets while archiving his come-up story across a debut album (‘El Major’) and three extended plays like ‘The Fresh Prince Of Lagos’ and ‘Dangerous Wavy Baby.’ His 2024 EP, ‘Shakur,’ further underscored his evolution as an artist, featuring slippery numbers about escapism, his thoughts on life in the fast lane, and brotherhood with features from rising stars like Tml Vibez and BhadBoi Oml.
In 2025, the singer has picked up where he left off last year, releasing “Trenches Luv,” a balmy February release that examines the dynamics of romance from his point of view as a young adult moulded by the hard realities of life on the street. The success of “Trenches Luv” has led to a deluxe version of ‘Shakur’ with the singer adding seven new songs to the original version of the project. Impressively, on the new version of the project, TI Blaze taps up Ayo Maff and Ghanaian star Arathejay on “My Brother” and “Mario Remix,” respectively.
Led by a galala-inflected opener, “Track 1,” ‘Shakur (Deluxe)’ is both raw and complex with the singer sounding refreshed on songs like “My Brother,” “Dodge,” and “Introduction.” In many ways, this project is an invitation for listeners to explore the many facets of T.I Blaze’s artistry as well as a portent to celebrate his roots and offer a glimpse at his evolution.
Listen to ‘Shakur (Deluxe)’ here.
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NATIVE PREMIERE: Rigo Kamp Runs Ahead Of The Pack With The Visuals For “Marathon”
Rigo Kamp’s Marathon video is an intimate Afro-juju revival that pays homage to Sir Shina Peters and stamps...
Last Friday, Rigo Kamp, a NATIVE uNder alum and one of the architects of an equal parts nostalgic and refreshing sound released his self-titled debut EP, delivering a propulsive fusion of Alte, R&B, Funk, and Soul-infused rhythms.
Featuring previously released singles “Morning Sun” and “Summer”, the six-track eponymous EP executively produced by Odunsi The Engine sees Rigo lean heavily into his element as a sonic alchemist, jumping from silky falsettos to gritty grooves without losing an ounce of cohesion, and ultimately stamping the Abuja-born, Lagos-based singer-songwriter as a mad scientist of sound.
Just last November, Apple Music named Rigo Kamp as its Up Next artist, an acknowledgment that underscored his potential and confirmed what the tastemakers and underground scene already knew. Weeks later, he delivered an exhilarating live set for Spotify Fresh Finds in Lagos, proving he’s just as compelling live as he is in the studio.
On “Marathon”, the refreshing opener to the Rigo Kamp EP, Rigo borrows the bounce and swagger of Afro-Juju legend, Sir Shina Peters’ golden-era, fusing nostalgia with re-imagination to birth a vintage performance that feels like a private party for two, where it’s just Rigo, and you.
Get an exclusive first look at the video for Marathon here:
Listen to the Rigo Kamp EP:
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