NATIVE Exclusive: Duke Amayo Is Coming Home
"Dem no dey give us our dues, so therefore, we have to create that."
Home can mean many things. For Abraham “Duke” Amayo, who has travelled for decades and learnt the details of several art forms, Lagos is home. The ex-Antibalas co-founder and frontman made a return to the city this past October, partly to pay homage to his musical hero Fela Kuti during the heralded Felabration, and also to kickstart a solo career. With an inscription of “Black President,” the legendary artist’s raised fists are emblazoned boldly on Amayo’s black polo, right at the middle.
“I’ve been coming back over the years, periodically,” he tells The NATIVE some moments into the conversation, although “without any real mission”. Amayo’s early impact in Lagos came when he brought a Green Team from New York, raising funds by winning a competition which saw them design a rainwater collection system at his mother’s house. That was part of his reconnection to roots, having left the city when he was seventeen. This year, being at the Felabration was particularly spiritual because Amayo had just exited Antibalas, the iconic Grammy Award-nominated band shortly after the death of Fela in 1997.
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The band already existed some months before Amayo joined in early 1999, and afterwards, the process of coming together was very organic. “I feel like Fela’s music just rose and expanded,” says Amayo. The 2000’s saw the band explore the dense, incandescent sound of Afrobeat, releasing four albums in seven years. Each album consistently propelled the band’s vision, incorporating their own designs to the ethos of Fela’s music. When their third album ‘Who Is This America?’ appeared in 2004, the music of Antibalas had taken compact form. Their several instruments, the messaging, and the tone of the messaging was beautifully allied, and Amayo stood as an exemplary figurehead of this synergy. Complementing his sonic contributions was his singing or, as described in a Pitchfork review, “compelling lyrical fomentations”.
At the time, Antibalas shared members back and forth with The Dap-Kings, the Funk/Soul band who had created a timeless legacy alongside Sharon Jones. That musical alliance inspired Amayo, who founded the offshoot Fu-Arkist-Ra, a year after joining Antibalas. “I wanted to compose music that was very forward,” he says. “Music that brought together the ideology in kung fu and the sound of Afrobeat. That was where I was experimenting, I was trying different rhythms – it’s very subtle in terms of when someone says ‘hey, what’s the kung fu in this music?’ When you hear it, if you’re spiritual and have some sort of connection to the universe, you feel it”.
Amayo nurtured this fusion over the years, and before 2020 had the intent to move on from Antibalas. The band was well into its third generation of musicians, and the Nigerian was among its longstanding purveyors. His vision was urgent—he needed to hear those movements of the ancient body come into life. Within every step, chaotic or composed, life was unravelling and the grace of music mirrored the tussle of reality. During the pandemic Amayo welcomed a baby boy, he tells me with the widest grin, naming him Olokun, after the Yoruba goddess of the sea. “Naming him Olokun was part of my process of working my way back in a more deeply spiritual way. My daughter was also named after Oshun, because it is always my intention to pay homage to our culture”.
His son’s birth preceded his visit to Edo State, where his mother is from, and where an old friend presides over a traditional healing house. Reconnecting with that spiritual source burnished his soul. ‘Fu Chronicles’ was created shortly after, born from Amayo’s established tradition of creating music inspired by Afro spirituals and kung fu philosophy. He was moving on and so was the perfect time to release that body of work.
“They are all my compositions, my illustrations, concepts—that was kind of, like, goodbye and hello,” says Amayo. “It was goodbye to my crew at Antibalas and hello to my Naija folks. Just like a new journey, you know, I really want to dig into our culture. ‘Cos our culture is on a platform; everyone is listening to our culture, Afrobeats obviously is on the forefront. You know how the times are, all these things start, but can we sustain it? Part of my work is to make sure we can sustain our culture at a very high level”.
As a boy, Amayo loved illustrating. He could draw life-like images and before ten was being commissioned to create portraits. This was in Ghana. His mother had moved him and his siblings there during the heat of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War, and Amayo settled in a neighbourhood called Railway Quarters. Mandatory communal activities introduced him to drumming and fighting in the martial arts tradition, which made his years in the country very influential on his current explorations.
The prodigious artist belonged to a large family in Surulere, Lagos. His father was the first postmaster in the country, and had eight wives to show for his prosperity. Amayo’s mother was the beloved one, and together they eloped to London where they bore him. At an early age Amayo knew the potential of community, forming a Jackson 5-esque band with his half siblings. “I was either five or six at that time. At that age, everybody was trying to be Michael Jackson — I was one of them,” he reveals. “I had already developed my dancing skills and, you know, Michael Jackson was mimicking James Brown”.
When James Brown visited Nigeria in 1970, Amayo snuck out of the house to the host stadium in Marina, Lagos. Trees clustered around a section of the stadium’s fence, and climbing one of them Amayo caught sight of The Godfather of Funk. “My whole mind was expanded,” he says with a sudden flush of enthusiasm. A revered football player, his uncle Anthony took him to the Afrikan Shrine where he saw Fela perform. Then he would entertain with his dancing skills, which accelerated his acceptance within the community. The Shrine was close to his mother’s house, and whenever he returned from boarding school holidays he’d branch into it, spending a few days before returning home.
“I’ve always had this personality of going, moving on, ascending,” he tells me, working his hands to demonstrate movement. He attributes this to his practice of martial arts’ which continued when Amayo moved to the US as he became a senior master at the Jow Ga kung fu School. He makes a point about Yin and Yang, the purpose of equilibrium which flows through his work. “This is where me I dey draw my inspiration from and then I would layer in all these rhythms,” he affirms. “And when I think of rhythms, I’m thinking of Lagos, the breath of Lagos—that na Afrobeat, you know? If you can be an invisible presence and move through space. If you move through Lagos, all those rhythms of resistance; people are always resisting, connecting, breaking up, shouting, for me it creates a certain type of vibration”.
Not many people are able to escape their true purpose in life. Amayo’s multi-hyphenate creativity kept shifting through forms—illustrating, designing, fashion—but music remained a constant feature of his lifestyle. Across three decades as part of Antibalas, he took those many components into their well-received projects and live performances, which Amayo always starts with a kung fu dance, echoing the spirit of the music that’s about to be played.
When the Recording Academy recognised ‘Fu Chronicles’ in its World Music Album (won by Burna Boy’s ‘Twice As Tall’), that was also part of something larger for Amayo. His wife, a manifestation coach, was involved in the album’s creation and being on the esteemed platform was actually planned towards. Per musical vision, the farewell project was a connecting bridge to Amayo’s forthcoming music. “You will feel the journey of my compositions,” he says. Titled ‘The Lion Awakes,’ the debut solo project from Amayo is expected later this year. It is a trilogy, and continues his lifelong immersion into kung fu—this time though, the musical connection emerges through the Lion Dance, which is a customary event among followers of Chinese spirituality.
Amayo’s project was accompanied with mythological world building, shifting the boundaries of its typical geography to include Nigeria. “The lion landed in Freedom Park,” he says, explaining the journey. “When he landed, he separated. His head was in Freedom Park and his body was at the Shrine. In my story, in terms of how I express the actual story, the Lion resides in heaven, was mischievous, and Jade Emperor who rules the heavens chopped his head off. Because the Lion is immortal but it can learn lessons. So, I placed that inside Africa. When he tossed it down to earth, where did he land? Right here in Africa. That’s where my story starts—as the Lion lands in Africa, he starts to get Africanised. He starts to learn about the beginning of things, and meets a Babalawo who teaches the Lion about African culture. So that’s where I’m building all my stories from musically. The music is telling it, I’m acting it out, the martial arts is happening in there, so eventually you see all that actualised as a theatrical movement”.
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Amayo already has ideas written for the next two records, which is something he likes doing — linking a narrative chain around his projects. “I’m really open at this time,” he says about working with Nigerian musicians and producers. “I would like to represent most of my Nigerian musical connections”. Listeners of Antibalas know, however, that Amayo has always reflected those qualities. Often singing in Yoruba and Edo lingua, he brought the orisha world of Fela into their music. He joined the band to fulfil these spiritual functions, to infuse culture and language while his bandmates echoed the flamboyance of the legendary musician.
“I intentionally became part of that because I didn’t want anyone to bastardise our culture,” says Amayo. “I don’t want anybody to put accent inside where accent no suppose to dey. That was important for me. So my role in the band was to authenticate. I was an authenticator, a catalyst, a person that pushed to go deeper into Fela’s language. In that sense, we influenced so many other bands, because of our mission, everyone was forced to go and listen to Fela. Our intention was to play it as best as Fela can play it”.
These days, Amayo has his mind set on ownership. From working in the corporate world to leading an iconic band, he’s come a long way and knows the power of Black people resides in creating their own platforms and sustaining them. “I’m building a place in Atlanta that will bring all of this together,” he says, “where we can really present our culture at a very high level, so we have a place. Dem no dey give us our dues, so therefore, we have to create that. So na ownership level we wan’ enter now.”
Luwa.Mp4 Releases Riotous Debut Album, ‘punKstA*’
Across the album’s 12 tracks, Luwa.Mp4 continues his fiery exploration and fusion of genres like Punk Rock,...
Rising singer and rapper Luwa.Mp4 has released his debut album titled ‘punKstA*.’ The underground star who has been on a release spree all year long, announced the imminent arrival of his debut only a couple of days ago with a cryptic trailer video and an Instagram caption that simply read ‘PUNKSTA* MONDAY.’
Before the arrival of ‘punKstA*,’ the rising fusion star had been showcasing his diligence and talent with a consistent output that has seen him put out over a dozen songs since the start of the year. A string of singles led to a 6-pack titled ‘lore skooL,’ while a deluxe version that housed 5 new songs came just a month later.
His debut album’s lead single, “pUNK FANTASY,” arrived in late July, setting the stage for what could prove to be a pivotal moment in the underground star’s burgeoning career.
Across the album’s 12 tracks, the eclectic singer continues his fiery exploration and fusion of genres like Punk Rock, Afropop, Hyperpop, and Rap into something uniquely different. Tracks like “Pure Water,” which was previously teased on Cruel Santino’s Subaru Live Stream, the abrasive, Tecno-influenced “pROMISED NEVERLAND,” and the more laidback “pEEp MY RIDE” put on display the sort of varied, autotune-soaked approach that has set him apart and helped carve a growing niche.
While Luwa decided to go solo on his debut, credited as the only recording artist, the album was brought to life by a cast of talented producers like frequent collaborator TOPSY, Emyboi, JTRN, 3CB, FVKK.ANDI and Jeremy Cartier.
Listen to ‘punKstA*,’ here.
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Shekhinah Returns With Surprise Album, ‘Less Trouble’
The South African R&B star is at her most assertive on her first album in four years.
South African R&B and Pop singer Shekhinah has released a new surprise album titled ‘Less Trouble.’ The Durban star, who had been quiet for most of the year, took to social media shortly before midnight to share the new album’s cover, synopsis, and tracklist, simply stating, ‘If you’re seeing this my album LESS TROUBLE is out now at Midnight,’ in an Instagram caption.
The soulful singer first began teasing ‘Less Trouble,’ her first album in over four years, about a year ago when she released its lead single “Risk,” a bouncy Afropop-inspired collab with Ghanaian star MOLIY. A few months after the release of “Risk,” she put out “Steady,” a dreamy pop number that suggested that something bigger was on the horizon. But then it was largely radio silence about a project until its surprise arrival at midnight.
If 2021’s ‘Trouble In Paradise’ represented a coming-of-age for Shekhinah, subsisting some of the dreamy, youthful exuberance of her debut album for more measured musings on themes like heartbreak and grief, ‘Less Trouble’ finds her at her most assertive, writing and singing with the acuity of someone who is grown, decisive and discerning. The delicate opener “Break Up Season” sets the tone for the rest of the album as she shows little tolerance for shady behaviour and toxic patterns.
Other standout cuts on the album like “Bare Minimum,” a sombre collab with fellow South African award-winning singer lordkez, the ethereal, in-your-face interlude “New Casanova,” and the percussive “What Are We,” where Shekhinah contemplates the nature of a relationship but ultimately demands all or nothing, all drive home a part of the album’s synopsis, which reads ‘A BOOK ON MORE HEARTBREAK BUT LESS HEARTACHE.’
Shekhinah invites a couple of new collaborators on ‘Less Trouble,’ featuring the aforementioned MOLIY and lordkez as well as multi-instrumentalist Mars Baby and Young Stunna across the album’s 11 tracks. Mpilo Shabangu handled the majority of the album’s production, while other producers like Michael Morare, her longtime collaborator, Mthintheki Mzizi, and Vuyo also contributed to the album.
Listen to ‘Less Trouble’ here.
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The NATIVE’s First Impressions Of Amaarae’s ‘Black Star’
‘Black Star’ marks another evolutionary arc for Amaarae, and The NATIVE team offer our thoughts after a...
Change has always been a constant theme in any discussion about the career of Ghanaian-American star, Amaarae. Since she emerged as a singular voice in the late 2010s, she has evolved from a sirenic Afropop-adjacent singer into a Punk-Pop firestarter with minimal fuss. ‘Fountain Baby,’ her 2023 sophomore album, was a sweeping departure from the lilting melodies and shapeshifing cadences of the hypnotic ‘The Angel You Don’t Know,’ emphasizing her commitment to charting new courses with her music.
In the lead-up to her new album, ‘Black Star,’ she has wholly embraced a Pop aesthetic and sheen that was reflected on the album’s promotional singles, “S.M.O.” and “Girlie-Pop!.” Now that the album has arrived, the singer has advised listeners not to go in expecting a continuation of the soundscape on ‘Fountain Baby.’ As keen followers of Amaarae’s career from its start, we are sure that ‘Black Star’ marks another evolutionary arc for her, and we offer our thoughts after a few listens.
WHAT WERE YOUR EXPECTATIONS OF AMAARAE GOING INTO THIS ALBUM?
Kemnachi: I had zero doubts that she would impress me again. Amaarae always comes correct. She is audacious with her choices, taking creative risks most artists would not dare to imagine, and somehow rendering them seamless, deliberate, and effortless. Her music has a way of enveloping me: it’s fluid, slightly dangerous, and yet irresistibly sensual. Every project feels like an immersive world she has curated down to the finest detail. With ‘Black Star,’ I knew it was not going to be a mere collection of songs but another meticulously constructed realm.
Bamise: I expected something fun, genre-bending, and sonically diverse in the fashion that Amaarae’s music typically is. I may have taken the album title a bit too literally, though, because listening made me realise I had an eye out for some Pan-African statements or something to spark discourse on African identity, but I didn’t quite catch any of that.
Boluwatife: Amaarae has largely delivered throughout her career, so I knew she was going to come correct again. She’s one of those forward-thinking artists who take the kind of risks most others wouldn’t, but she always manages to make it work. She’s proven to be a musical omnivore who constantly meshes her wide-ranging influences into something new, fluid, icy, and more often than not, sensual. I knew ‘Black Star’ wasn’t going to be any different.
WHAT SONGS STOOD OUT ON THE FIRST LISTEN?
Wale: I liked “Girlie-Pop!.” I feel like it captures Amaarae’s vision of pushing Afropop into the future. She’s also really grown comfortable with music and lyricism and will not dumb down her message for anybody. The instrumental for “Girlie-Pop!” is also a wonder; it’s so dense, but there are pockets for Amaarae to be emotive about her feelings. Top song!
Daniel Akins: I need to hear “B2B” at the next rave I’m at. Amaarae is in her Dance era, and I’m here for it. Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2” with PinkPantheress is the collaboration I knew I needed, and I’m glad they finally linked up. It’s a clear standout on the project; their ethereal style complements each other.
Shina: “B2B” was the one that did it for me. That is my favourite track on the project. The number of times I ran it back was unhealthy for a first listen. It was also really fun to catch the Don Toliver “Best You Had” sample. I need to hear this outside!
HOW WELL YOU THINK THE GUEST APPEARANCES ENHANCED THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE?
Israel: The guest features on Black Star aren’t mere flexes. They’re strategic, theatrical, and sometimes emotionally resonant. They enhance, yes, but they do so on Amaarae’s terms. A standout for me was PinkPantheress on “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2.” The tradeoff is that a few songs feel like dazzling cameos rather than an integrated conversation, yet overall they enhance the album’s drama, texture, and bravado with precision.
Daniel Banjoko: Everyone showed up and delivered, no weak links here. Instead of just guest spots, they felt like vital pieces of a bigger puzzle. Charlie Wilson on “Dream Scenario” nailed his part especially, making the track sound exactly like its name promises.
Moore: The guest appearances on ‘Black Star’ feel very intentional; each one enhances the album’s world without overshadowing Amaarae’s vision. PinkPantheress’s signature airy delivery meshes with Amaarae’s experimental pop sound. Naomi Campbell’s commanding voice on “ms60” is an unexpected but powerful addition, adding drama to the track. Each feature feels carefully chosen.
WHAT SONG IS THE BIGGEST SKIP?
Bamise: Not to be a party pooper, but I don’t get the PinkPantheress collab, “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2.” It feels like a PinkPantheress song with less pop in it, and just borrows the title of the iconic Soulja Boy song but has no other similarities. It’s between that and “ms60.” For me, the chorus of that sounds like something I’ve heard from Amaarae before, and I doubt its absence would have diminished the album.
Shina: I feel like biggest skip is a strong word for a solid project, but if I have to pick a song to skip, it’ll be “ms60.” I think it’s easily forgettable.
Wale: It’s hard to single out a song that stuck out to me, but hearing Naomi Campbell on “ms60” threw me off. It’s just too contrived to bear for me.
WHAT SONG HAS THE BIGGEST HIT POTENTIAL?
Boluwatife: My gut answer would probably be “She Is My Drug,” just because of how she beautifully reworks the melodies from Cher’s “Believe.” DJ remixes of this song could go crazy. But if I were to think a bit more logically, TikTok would probably lap up “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2.”
Daniel Banjoko: “Kiss Me Thru the Phone pt 2” goes crazy. Amaarae and PinkPantheress are the perfect match. This collab feels like it was destined to happen, and it delivers in full. Honestly, I can’t believe it took this long, and now I just need more tracks from these two, ASAP.
Moore: “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2” has the biggest hit potential on the album. The song has a nostalgic, sad party girl vibe that makes it appealing, and it’s also catchy and well-produced. PinkPantheress consistently performs well on platforms like TikTok, and her fanbase overlaps in a really interesting way with Amaarae’s. The collaboration feels organic and exciting, and will likely create a lot of buzz.
OVERALL FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Wale: There is a very visceral quality to how Amaarae expresses desire that I don’t hear very often in a lot of music. It’s abstracted and warped in futuristic textures, but it’s very profoundly human, and it’s always great to hear that even as she advances the sonics of her delivery. I do, however, have an issue with the thematic scope of ‘Black Star.’ I thought there would be overt references to her experiences of navigating her Ghanaian identity, but those references are limited to samples and interpolations. It’s still an incisive listen and a triumph for finding ways to advance music from Africa.
Bamise: It’s Amaarae; she can never go wrong. But for me, this is the album that excites me the least from her catalogue. Other than how bass-heavy some songs on the album are, like “S.M.O.” and “She Is My Drug” among others, it feels similar to other projects I’ve heard from her in a way that’s not exactly refreshing or mind-bending. I may have gotten spoiled by how diverse and eclectic Amaarae’s music tends to be, but I wanted more from her. I expected more gangster, Hip-Hop Amaarae. Thematically, I didn’t get anything that gives the Black Star of Ghana, or black stars are ruling the world. Will I listen again and enjoy every bit of it still, though? Yes, I will.
Shina: So first off, this is a solid body of work. I love the fact that Amaarae stuck with the Dance, Electro-Pop route she was going with throughout the album. The features also played their part, adding their unique touches to each record. I would say, though, a feature I would’ve loved to hear on this project is 070Shake. I think she would have been perfect on “100DRUM,” but we don’t always get what we want, do we? Thematically, I think Amaarae could’ve leaned heavily on her Ghanaian heritage, seeing as the title and cover of the album are a nod to that. Maybe Amaarae just wants us to dance, and that’s what I’m just gonna do, and you should too.
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