Love him, hate him, find his music to be questionable or too local, Asake is a moving train steamrolling all the competition in his path on his way to assured stardom. Riding on the waves of success is the Yahoo Boy No Laptop (YBNL) signee, Ahmed Ololade Asake popularly known by his stage name Asake, which pays homage to his mother whose first name is Asake. Asake’s recently released album saw him topping charts with most of the songs off that album sitting pretty in top 20 spots.

 Mr. Money is having quite the season with hits from the Mr Money with the Vibe album. The hits it features are incredibly catchy songs like Organise, Ototo, Terminator, Dull, Peace Be Unto You, Dupe and Nzaza, which on surface all appear to be similar in sound and style but the truth is, no two tracks on this album speak on the same topic, or take on the same approach.

Today, we delve into the mechanics behind the debut club hit Joha. At this point, it is quite clear that Asake’s music is rooted in Yoruba culture and Joha is certainly no exception. This smooth blend of Amapiano, Afrobeats and Fuji is some sort of ode to his lover Joha, which in this case is a nickname for Joanna. The hit artist lets listeners understand through the lyrics just how smitten he is by Joha. He also highlights that he wants to be with her because of what she has to offer.  Mr. Money lets listeners know that he has no intention to play games and states clearly that he is a straightforward person.

The highpoint of this lit track is the chorus, it goes…

Joha (joha)

Jo-Joha (joha)

Moni joha (joha)

Jo-Joha (joha)

Moni joha (joha)

Jo-Joha (joha)

Mio fе wahala (joha)

Jo-Jo-Joha (joha) by

Where the artist explains that he is not in the habit of chasing women and he does not want wahala because the lady he has set his eyes on is playing hard to get.

This hit track is quite easy on the ears with its flavorful yet up-beat stratified mix and distinctly clean production, combined with the chant-like chorus that’s fast becoming popular in Nigerian music. It is definitely a track specifically engineered to get the listener dancing.

It is also heavy on relatability for male and female folks alike. I’m sure we can all agree that chasing a person who constantly plays the long game can get tiring, right? Right. The relatability on this track is one of its biggest selling points, right after its chorus; that is, the chorus ranks at number one and relatability at number two.

If it had been in doubt amongst speculators, the track Joha has established Asake as one of the big fishes in the Nigerian Afrobeats scene. From the start Mr. Money has been a strong contender in the Afrobeats scene and now pioneering his own sound, he appears unstoppable.

Here’s a strong recommendation to add this hit to your playlist. It will have you hooked in no time.

Didi Dan-Asisah is an art enthusiast and critic. She lives in Lagos.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.