Sierra Leonean TikTok sensation and social media star Jacob Alexander Evangelista, aka The Therapist, has released his first single Nack under record label Cribs International. The Therapist is not only a singer, he is also a student of Architecture at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.
Nack is produced and co-written by the legendary award winning Masterkraft, a renowned Nigerian producer behind some of the biggest hits in the country. In his discography, he has worked with superstars like 2Face, Wizkid, M.I., Flavour and Banky W. He is considered to be one of Nigeria’s biggest producers.
Nack is not a song for a prude listener. It relies heavily on the popular amapiano sounds with a nice house fusion that has created many hits before it. In its first week of release, the song shot its way into the top five contributing sounds on TikTok and quickly made its way into the top 100 Apple African charts.
With explicit lyrics like these…
My head, my neck, my waist
But, I still wan nack (but, I still wan nack)
I wan nack (I wan nack)
My head, my neck, my waist
But, I still wan nack (but, I still wan nack)
I wan nack (I wan nack)
It’s easy to assume, and the listener will not be wrong in doing so, that the singer is talking about the other room affairs. And, as with all things naughty, it quickly caught on like a wildfire with the younger demographic of listeners, which, to be fair, is his target audience. Naught lyrics, coupled with baby faced good looks and a solid fan base of his short dance videos on TikTok, it is no surprise that Nack is such a hit right out the gate.
What is surprising, though, is that The Therapist insists that Nack isn’t so one dimensional. He told the media, when asked, that “the song is just about what happens in the society. No matter what the challenges of life bring(s) to our door we all still find time to “nack”. To “nack” means to have a good time, to defuse the stress and pressure of life. Nack is a feel-good tune with a lot of rhythmic vibes to get the listeners dancing. No bad energy at all.”
It is hard to argue with the creator of the song. After all, if Tiwa Savage is quoted as saint, she sang the famous Somebody’s Son, then to nack could mean to de-stress and have a good time.
Nack has a lively beat, the lyrics are a bit repetitive but it’s a catchy earworm with a nice beat, it doesn’t need deep lyrics. It has the deep smooth base that we have come to associate with South African sounds most predominantly and its bouncy, mid tempo beat is paired with bass vocals. In other words, this song is an immensely danceable track that doesn’t deign to take itself too seriously.
While it is too early to tell if The Therapist and his music is here to stay and the subject of his only single seems to be flimsy, one can’t help but wish he would stick around and continue making hits. Since there is nothing by way of discography to chart his progress, the sky is the limit.
If you like songs that you can dance to at a club, definitely check out Nack. It is a fun effort.
Didi Dan-Asisah is an art enthusiast and critic. She lives in Lagos.
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.
