It is rounding up what has been a challenging year as well as starting a brand new moment for the Afrobeats singer Azeez ‘Naira Marley’ Fashola ending this December. He looks like he is heading back into the spotlight thanks to a new song, ‘Wahala’ he has just released.

The track dropped on Friday, 29 December, which is approximately eight weeks since a judge granted him bail after a while locked behind bars. Not much had been heard from the singer’s social media pages in the past months but for the new track.

Just around the afternoon of the release, Naira Marley dusted off his out-of-use Instagram by putting out an advisory about the freshest he had released. The same breath announcing ‘Wahala’, a title meaning trouble in his Yoruba mother tongue, also gave birth to another single. Hence came his invitation asking his fans to “Go listen to ‘on my own’ and ‘wahala’ and thank me later”.

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A post shared by Naira Marley (@nairamarley)

Somehow, these double releases led the singer to trend elsewhere on the X platform but it wasn’t really for the artistic feel the songs might have exuded. It is the world, or perhaps a section of the X population questioning the intrusion.

ALSO READ: Naira Marley makes a cocky backseat comeback on Tik-Tok

How can Naira Marley trend if he was initially condemned over his alleged bullying of the deceased rapper Ilerioluwa ‘Mohbad’ Aloba? When Mohbad who was previously a signee under the Naira Marley-owned Marlian Music World label died in September, fingers were pointed at Naira Marley accusing him of having a hand in his death.

“Even if Naira Marley [gives] everybody 1 million naira we [won’t] still stream [his] song” reads a tweet welcoming the songs.  From here onwards, the reactions were mixed. Not many are bent on totally ignoring his songs as the case turned out to be in September.

“I’m not streaming, I only need to download,” says a user Omofolaranmi who thinks the singer “is cancelled forever” even if his songs are getting attention.

I’m not streaming, I only need to download 😎 naira is cancelled forever… won fe stress Omo sabi 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/cb5O6ZIoSu

— #HUMANITYFIRST💯 (@Omofolaranmi01) December 29, 2023

Ever since he was granted a ₦20 million bail by a Magistrate Judge, Adeola Olatunbosun of the Yaba Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 6 November 2023, Naira Marley has been on a mission to repair his ruined reputation.

The actress Iyabo Ojo has been one of Naira Marley’s focus ever since he got out. The singer is demanding an apology that would be published in a national daily as well as her Instagram page from where libellous comments were directed to him concerning Mohbad’s death. It remains to be seen if he will get the requested apology.

Should the actress fail to apologise for posting libellous content about the ‘Body’ singer on her Iyaboojoofespris Instagram page, the consequence according to the ultimatum will amount to up to ₦500 million in damages.

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.