Barely a few months into the year and it’s already looking like a great one for Nigerian music. Last year, in contrast, was decidedly languorous for Nigerian music, bordering on existentially depressing. Critics and fans alike obsessively worried about the tepid air that hung over the music scene and spun treatises and think pieces that broached possible ways to jolt the scene back to life. This publication churned out its share of harried opinion pieces on the subject. This year however has already spawned several hit singles. Fresh voices like Famous Pluto, Serotonin, and Kunmie have come to the fore. Promotional efforts for Wizkid’s Morayo have started to roll out with aplomb. Rema, Asake, Ayra Starr, and BurnaBoy have also turned the chapter on new eras, in anticipation of their imminent albums. Davido is also gearing up for the release of his fifth studio album entitled 5ive. Be There Still, which was released in the early hours of Friday last week, represents his third lead single from the album and perhaps his final act before the album drops on the 18th of April.
Since the snippet of Be There Still surfaced on social media—around a month ago—music enthusiasts have bemoaned its lack of inventiveness and fretted over the quality of the album. Be There Still, like the bulk of Davido’s canon, sounds like it was crafted for the dance floor. The song opens energetically with a medley of boisterous drums, vivacious horns, and staccato chants from Davido, evoking the feeling of a rave. The issue for a lot of people, however, is the song’s Amapiano influences. Across the internet, especially in Davido’s comments sections, are hilariously censuring remarks such as “Amapiano again,” “If Davido doesn’t leave log drums, log drums will have to leave Davido,” or “Davido, leave Amapiano before Amapiano leave you.” A significant portion of these kinds of comments are obviously from his trolls who get off from skewering him. But they largely reflect the worries of well-meaning fans.
The anxiety around Amapiano to a degree issues from its complicated history with Nigerian music. Starting in 2020, when artists and producers, bored of the soundscape of the time which was heavily beholden to the brand of Street Pop championed by acts like Zlatan, Naira Marley and Bella Shmurda, were on the prowl to unearth new sounds, Amapiano slowly wormed its way into the Nigerian Music scene. The genre grew rapidly, morphing in its essence to fit the nuances of the Nigerian music landscape. The problem, however, started when artists and producers became too comfortable with the predictable patterns of Amapiano—or at least the locally adapted version of the genre. Amapiano would then start to supplant traditional Afropop, leaving Afropop in the lurch. It all came to a head in late 2023, when there seemed to be an industry-wide reckoning about the need to move on from the sound. Last year, the industry successfully weaned itself off of Amapiano. Its vestiges remain in the sound of today, a phantom marker of its impact, but traditional Afropop is once again ascendant.
Given this fraught history, it’s easy to rationalize the public’s disapproval of Davido’s insistence on tapping Amapiano. But it goes beyond that. Putting aside today’s release, Be There Still, the other two lead singles from 5ive, Awuke and Funds, have failed to display the level of sonic inventiveness that’s necessary to cut through the noise in today’s saturated media landscape. This is especially concerning when one considers his history with albums.
Since his breakout moment in 2012, he has cemented himself as a hit-making virtuoso. His repertoire of albums is however tainted by inconsistency. His debut album Omo Baba Olowo: The Genesis, while spawning classic hits like Ekuro and Dami Duro, falls short of being a great album on account of too many filler songs and the lack of sonic or thematic consistency. He redeemed himself with 2019’s A Good Time, before flopping with A Better Time, released the following year. In 2023, however, he turned the tide with Timeless, which is already regarded by many as a modern classic.
While it’s routine for fans and music enthusiasts to fret about the quality of almost every imminent pop album. Sometimes, these critiques hold kernels of truth. With Davido’s 5ive in spitting distance—barely a month away—he finds himself in familiar terrain—burdened with an ominous history of inconsistency, as well as a deluge of criticism from dithering fans. Will he deliver a solid effort this time, or will history repeat itself? Well, in due time, we’ll find out how the story ends.
