2022 has been Fireboy DML’s season. The YBNL act cruised into the year off the global success of the Ed Sheeran-assisted “Peru (Remix)” but he’s been angling towards more notable moments. After announcing the ‘Playboy’ title of his third album due for release sometime this year, its self-titled record was released to almost unanimous acclaim, fast becoming one of the year’s most exciting songs.

 

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After his historic performance on the main stage of the BET awards, the musician followed up the buzz by revealing the cover of his forthcoming album. The focus on his facial expression gave hint into the expected incursions into the events of his mind. It’s no surprise then that for Fireboy DML’s latest record, he collaborates with his on-fire labelmate, Asake, who’s had a very memorable 2022 himself. 

“Bandana” is produced by the phenomenal P.Priime, featuring the violin sections and church-like percussion familiar to listeners of Asake. It sets the template for his anthemic chorus, part indulgent and part triumphant. “I be ghetto boy, I be singer,” he sings with audible glee, sketching the aspirational core of the record. “They never see me coming…Naija boy wey dey go foreign/ Oshey, Mr. Money,” he continues, quite aware of the peculiar nature of his nationwide acclaim. 

The subject of fame has been covered severally across Fireboy’s catalogue and here he’s adept as ever, able to maintain his lived-in perspective while casting hopeful eyes to the future. As always, he calls on the evidence of his closest community to hold up the struggles borne from his trajectory. His first verse recalls writing his story “since ‘06” and following that up with “I no be OG, but if you ask them dem know me.”

His deft working of everyday phrases into the nature of his celebrity continues deep into the verse, where he sings “music chose me, just know this and know peace/ I dey lowkey, but I’m never lonely; sexy ladies come whine for me slowly.” The second verse finds him in a more confrontational zone, discussing the returning gains of his legacy while representing his family and aiming lyrical shots at detractors. 

“Bandana” counts among those rare songs with a fine combination of everything, threaded immaculately through the famous backstories of its two creators. Coming with the promise of an album between them, there’s a prophetic feel to the record. At the moment though, it’s for sure the perfect anthem to live it up. 

Listen to “Bandana”