Asake’s Lungu Boy: Taps the beats of Sarz, P.Priime for diaspora crossover

Nigerian artists are expanding their reach beyond home audiences through experimental sounds that appeal to global audiences.

They are leveraging producers like Sarz and P.Priime to create these sounds, as evidenced on Asake’s latest album, ‘Lungu Boy.’ This work featured experimental beats from Sarz and P.Priime to help with Asake’s diaspora crossover.

The singer released the album on August 9, 2024. It featured various artists, from Travis Scott, a US rapper on ‘Active,’ to British rappers Stormzy and Central Cee on ‘Suru’ and ‘Wave.’ The album also featured LUDMILLA, the Brazilian singer, on ‘Whine’ to tap the Latin American market.

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To reach this wider audience, Sarz and P.Priime, who together produced 12 of the album’s 15 tracks, created sounds that would appeal to listeners beyond Asake’s core Afrobeats fanbase.

P.Priime is no stranger to experimental works as recently he produced the majority of Rema’s sophomore album ‘HEIS’, which got comments from fans and critics who cheered the work as a step towards change from the norm of Amapiano-infused Afrobeats to fans who outrightly dislike his new sound.

On Lungu Boy, Sarz produced the tracks ‘Worldwide,’ ‘Active,’ ‘Mentally,’ ‘Uhh Yeah,’ and ‘Ligali,’ while P.Priime produced, ‘Start,’ ‘MMS’ where he Asake featured Wizkid, ‘Mood,’ ‘My Heart,’ which have become fan favourites and centers of praise for his new style of music, ‘Suru,’ ‘Skating’ and ‘I Swear.’ Magicsticks, who has been the imprint of Asake’s known style of music, also had his touch on two songs, ‘Fuji Vibe’ and ‘Wave,’ to appeal to his street fanbase.

Sarz and P.Priime go way back. Sarz mentored P.Priime when he was just starting as a music producer at 15 and helped him develop his skills at the Sarz Academy.

Originally a dancer, Asake began his career officially in 2018. By 2020, he released his hit single ‘Mr. Money.’ 2022 was his breakout year as he signed a record deal with YBNL Nation and landed the highest-charting Nigerian debut album in Billboard history with ‘Mr. Money with the Vibe.’ Since then, he has released three albums while performing at sold-out tour dates internationally, including a show at the Barclays Center in New York

With the growing concern of Afrobeats artists repeatedly integrating Amapiano sounds in their music, which many critics have said makes the genre sound stale and stagnant, the experimental sounds of ‘Lungu Boy,’ which seems like a temporary shift from his street Amapiano style, give fans more to explore from Afrobeats artist.

On songs like ‘My Heart,’ Asake tapped into the Latino sounds, exploring his range and versatility, a new currency in the Afrobeats space.

Joey Akan, Nigerian music journalist on X, said, “Emotional creativity, he (Asake) leaves his yearning and surrender on the table, enabling you to find a strain of connectivity to his emotions.”

Akan explained further that whether pining for love… or pondering the finer points of his existence, something calls out to you. “On this record, it’s male craving and utter appreciation for his lady,” Akan said.

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Sarz fused energetic House rhythms with classic Afrobeats percussion on ‘Uhh Yeahh,’ providing the perfect backdrop for Asake’s vibrant Yoruba vocals.

Asake’s ‘Lungu Boy’ garnered 9.42 million streams on its first full day of release, making it the Nigerian album with the biggest first-day global streams for an African album of all time.

In the broader context of Afrobeats’ growing international popularity, Asake and Rema are tapping deep into their creativity with the help of producers like P.Priime and Sarz to make their experimental sound a reality and an anchor for young aspiring artists to learn from.