The entire world was astonished when Asake released his debut album, “Mr. Money with the Vibe,” and many would swear that it’s the best debut album in Afrobeats history. Doing massive numbers and receiving accolades globally, the majority proclaimed that he could never outperform his previous excellent performance.

Nearly a year after his debut, he unleashed his sophomore album, “Work of Art,” and for the sake of this project, many of us wish a time machine truly existed so we could revisit the very night of the first listen and experience such ecstasy again. Yes, it was that great! It exceeded all expectations; it was almost perfect. Naturally, all hopes were raised upon the announcement of “Lungu Boy,” and virtually no one expected anything short of a masterpiece. But was it?

The album started off with the resounding voice of ASA from her evergreen track “Ojumo,” which made the track “Starta” a worthy intro, and it concluded with the sonorous heavy talking drum and vibration of the highly anticipated “Fuji Sound.”

One thing we can all ascertain is that this project is a testament to Asake’s originality, as he didn’t force a blend with international acts by switching languages, tune, or watering down his authenticity to appeal to a certain demographic. Rather, every featured act had to adjust and push themselves further to fit into his creative world.

Some of the highlights in this project include the two singles off the album, “Wave” featuring Central Cee and “Active” featuring Travis Scott. Both featured artists were excellent, and the quality of production was terrific. Sarz sealed his name on the Afrobeats epitaph with the awesome job he did on “Active.” Who could’ve imagined Adewale Ayuba on a song with Travis Scott? Well, thanks to Asake and Sarz, it is a reality that turned out perfectly.

Speaking of featured artists pushing themselves, Wizkid, who was the only Nigerian act on the project, displayed emotional depth and vulnerability when he opened up about his mum’s death and his emotional instabilities on the song “MMS.” The constant emphasis on “Oye Olorun,” which translates as “God understands,” provoked a lot of sympathy from the audience and gives a glimpse of what his highly anticipated album “Morayo” will sound like.

Songs like “Mood” and “Fuji Vibes” further affirm his title as the king of Afro-Fuji, as they give the classic Fuji vibes and the ultimate energy Asake is known for.

What he did on the song “Whine” should be greatly applauded. He literally took a shot at a dancehall beat with the pop artist “Ludimilla,” and it exceeded all expectations.

On hearing the title “Lungu Boy,” anyone would probably expect fast beats, street jams, and all sorts of “Lungu” vibes. Surprisingly, Asake displayed vast versatility more than ever before. A product of this versatility is the track “My Heart,” which is a love song. The lyrics and beats were so expressive, and the sonorous voice of “Anais Cardot” helped enhance the message he was conveying. However, some of his attempts at punchlines sounded obnoxious and distasteful; lines such as “Ass so fat, gives me an ass attack” and “She ain’t got OnlyFans, I’m her only fan” only made him seem desperate to have memorable lyrics, which was unnecessary.

Earlier this year, ahead of this album’s announcement, we began to discover Asake’s newfound affinity for skateboards. He did a couple of photoshoots and was even spotted skating at a few of his concerts. It wasn’t a complete surprise when we saw “Skating” on the tracklist. However, his pontification about skating being his lifestyle contradicts the media evidence across the internet, which shows that he’s nothing short of an amateur skater, making the entire song rather sardonic and lyrically empty.

In conclusion, “Lungu Boy” testifies to Asake’s Originality, versatility and most of all a poetical representation of a variety of vibes and emotions encountered in a Lungu. The album was undeniably endowed with fantastic production and the features were near perfect. It might however come across underwhelming because of its antecedents, but it is still a solid 7/10.

_{Written by: Kehinde Adesokan}