“Jealous,” the breakout single that helped Fireboy DML gain instant ubiquity in the early months of 2019, introduced him as a quintessential, wide-eyed loverboy. He was a lovestruck singer who couldn’t stand the thought of his elusive love interest with anyone else. This familiar but charming trope is the bedrock that Fireboy built his first two projects on. ‘Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps,’ his classic debut, mostly frothed with feel-good vibes and relatable, lovesick lyrics that emphasized his nifty songwriting skill while ‘Apollo’ his sophomore, doubled down on this lane and also housed music that elevated mundane premises about love to the stuff of fantasies. 

In an attempt at a narrative reset, Fireboy decided to trade in that adoring, loverboy persona for one of a smooth philanderer, on his third studio album ‘Playboy.’ This time, there was significantly less yearning and far more lustfulness as tales about the allure, access and temptations of his superstar lifestyle filled the tracks. The result was unfortunately mixed. While ‘Playboy’ houses a couple of the 28-year-old’s biggest hits to date, the album suffers slightly from both monotony, and the fact that this new direction lacked the irresistible charm that helped buoy his earlier works. It also did not help that the loverboy to casanova pipeline is pretty trite compared to the sonic and creative direction that a few of his peers have chosen. 

While the singer seemed to have come into 2024 reinvigorated – thanks to his stellar verse on Ayo Maff’s “Dealer” and the extremely groovy “everyday” –  there was still a little sense of precariousness going into ‘adedamola,’ his fourth studio album. The releases that followed 2022’s ‘Playboy’ didn’t exactly all land: bonus points for experimentation on “Someone” but the speed at which he moved on from the single is telling; “Yawa” and “obaa sima” were perhaps the two best singles he dropped in 2023 but they didn’t exactly light the world on fire, while “Oh My” seemed to have fallen between the cracks. This furthered the sense of uncertainty around an artist who seemed to be trying to rediscover his golden touch.

“iseoluwa,” the striking and introspective opener on ‘adedamola’ is, however, quick to dispel the air of uncertainty that preceded the album’s release. It’s arguably the most clear-headed he’s sounded in a while as he gently sings: “Mama say make I listen to Jah, make I no reason too far / Man, I’ve been living too fast, make I dey chill and relax,” over folk-inspired production that’s reminiscent of some of the stuff that made his debut incredibly catchy. On “Change” the opening track from ‘Playboy,’ the YBNL signee grapples with the pressure and allure of being a global star (It’s kind of hard to deal with the pressure but i’m trying / Different women in my DMs it’s a challenge) but on “iseoluwa,” the 28-year-old sings with the clarity and acuity of a superstar who has seen it all. 

This sense of clarity is what helps propel the album as Fireboy manages to rediscover some of the charm that helped him stand out amidst the plethora of loverboy languish. “call me” is a smooth love confessional that makes for easy listening while “hell and back” sees him picking the bones out of a push-pull relationship over Nxrth’s bouncy percussion. “ecstasy,” which features gifted singer and saxophonist Seun Kuti, is arguably one of the album’s strongest offerings. Sonically, the devilishly seductive track finds a sweet spot between R&B and Afropop, as Fireboy’s weightless vocals float over muted synths and thumping log drums. 

“back n forth” with legendary singer-songwriter Lagbaja and the SPINALL-assisted “wande’s bop” both offer a sparkly refresh to sounds from our recent past. The former largely benefits from the reclusive singer’s inclusion, adorning the track with his characteristic percussion and saxophone while the latter pays homage to Wande Coal, another legendary musician who Fireboy has repeatedly credited as a source of inspiration. The pre-released “yawa” and “obaa sima” are included on the album and while they nicely fit into the narrative here, both sonically and thematically, they don’t do much to elevate the overall experience. 

Most of the tracks on ‘adedamola’ sound extremely polished and well put together. The writing is clean and incisive while his sugary vocal sprees all sit atop glossy and elegant production – thanks in large part to Nrxth and Basquially – that shimmer like expensive jewelry. While this isn’t necessarily a problem, it leaves ‘adedamola’ fairly safe, predictable even. In an attempt to rediscover his mojo, it appears Fireboy decided to err on the side of caution, perhaps for fear of producing another album that might receive a lukewarm reception. Arguably the most ambitious record on the album is “ready,” a slow-burning ballad alongside Grammy Award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist Jon Batiste. Fireboy’s vocals – which seem to have improved, by the way – majestically roar over cinematic piano, giving his performance a bright poignancy; but even that, for all its execution, does not carry much ambition. 

Four albums in and some might argue that Fireboy’s music could do with a little more inventiveness. ‘Playboy’, for all its shortcomings, was a bold attempt at rejigging the Fireboy brand, both sonically and thematically. Even though attempts to mix things up produced dismal cuts like “Havin’ Fun,” tracks like the R&B and Dancehall-influenced “Diana” and the electrifying closer “Glory” highlight the expanse of Fireboy’s artistry, something he fails to show often. With ‘ademamola,’ Fireboy largely plays it safe, going back to what worked in the earlier years of his career and giving it a more expensive makeover. And while his roots are arguably a comfortable place to be for the singer – it’s a formula that works – , the danger is he stands the risk of stagnancy in the long run.