Creativity thrives best in our current situation, as we continue to spend most of our time at home, seeking out ways to escape boredom. The experience of dealing with emotions of fear, anger, frustration, confusion, exhilaration, and exhaustion through the whirlwind of the year 2020 has also blessed many voices with many stories to tell, and higher chances to excel. But with the increasing number of new artists waiting to be discovered, it certainly helps to be like Ruger who has Afropop hitmakers like D’Prince and Rema in his corner. The trio shared their new track, “One Shirt” as a monument to the strength of the Jonzing World label, each delivering impressive verses narrating their rise to fame and celebrity.

Although Ruger was already unveiled as the second Jonzing World signing since January 2020, he remained pretty much in the dark until a year later, with “One Shirt” released last week as his debut single under the label. He accurately describes the struggle, hustle, and patience most artists have to endure before becoming ‘overnight celebrities’, Ruger sings “Everybody get e own story oh/ As they dey take hustle for money oh” with a call and response flow that fits the catchy instrumentals Kukbeats produced, that boast highlife guitars riffs, horn harmonies and backing vocals that recall Afropop’s roots in Afrobeat.

Ruger’s mix of motivational lyrics and catchy melodies gives the song all the qualities of an anthem before D’Prince and Rema even infuse their charming personalities on their respective verses that celebrate their individual acclaim. While D’Prince pulls from every corner of his career with lyrics detailing his own rise to fame and becoming a mentor to younger artists, Rema adopts a Wizkid-esque flow as he shares the spotlight with the rest of his label mates and delivers lightweight melodies that boost the song’s dancefloor appeal.

Channeling personal experiences of struggle to make feel-good music is a proven format to make lifelong fans out of listeners who can easily put themselves in the artist’s raggedy shoes and worn clothes. It served Wizkid on his breakout album, ‘Superstar’ and in fact, the title “One Shirt” appears to be inspired by Wizkid’s lyrics from “Wad Up”, featuring none other than D’Prince; “Back in the day, I used to wear one jeans/ One shirt toast girls/ Dem no dey tell me ‘wad up'”. Ruger and Rema have been positioned as part of the new generation of superstars and they too can now narrate their stories to motivate other aspiring artists to be patient and trust the process of their career journey.

The Director DK-directed video follows a horror film theme that captures the Jonzing World trio as a powerful cult, and we wouldn’t bet against the artists growing cult-like following with his anthemic debut.

It hasn’t taken very long for music tastemakers to start showing off their contenders for the biggest music talent discovery of 2021. Don Jazzy’s long-standing reputation for putting us on to Afropop hitmakers made fans tune in to the new project from Ayra Starr,  the latest Mavin singer that was unveiled last weekend. However, Ruger’s debut shows that D’Prince can also scout for talents and he’s ready to give Don Jazzy a run for his money.

Watch the video for “One Shirt” by Jonzing World trio, D’Prince, Rema and Ruger below.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/rugerofficial

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You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him @debola_abimbolu

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