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After A’rese won the first cycle of The Voice Nigeria and signed a record deal with Universal Music back in 2016 everyone wondered what direction she’d go with her music. As an accomplished stage actor and singer who’d performed on Britain’s West End and several big budget stage plays in Nigeria, she’d already had the shine of fame on her and the tag of musical theatre geekdom. So when it was announced she was releasing her first post The Voice single, as part of a tranche of singles by the top 5, our hopes took a dent.

But we really shouldn’t have worried. “Uwe No” was a collaboration with Project fame winner Johnny Drille, featuring one of Native Mag’s favourite rappers, Ladi Poe. Took them long enough, but they’ve finally put out a video for it.

On “Uwe No”, A’rese favors storytelling and plays to her strengths as a classically trained musical theatre performer. She is a dancer and a wife in a long distance relationship who begins to form a more than professional relationship with her choreographer and dance partner. We see her pine for her lover in a too big bed, and grow closer to her choreographer as he earns her trust. They finish with a big dance routine in the middle of which Poe, looking smashing in a the sharpest pilot uniform, returns unexpectedly from his work trips to sweep away his wife. She blushes, swept by his sweet words, but is any real damage already done?

Uwe No is a proper introduction, and if you’re one for auguries, a sign that A’rese isn’t going to shed her any aspects of her past career to reinvent herself as a Naija pop siren. And we need that, our stars needn’t come in the same mold.

She hasn’t revealed information about an EP or album yet, but we’ll keep our ears to the ground.

Watch “Uwe Mo” below:

Featured image Credit: Youtube

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