Asa’s latest track, Mayana, is a total makeover

Asa is back strong with a completely unrecognizable but very timely sound, Mayana. Asa has always been an exceptional performer and niche singer who had immense success with albums like Aṣa, an eponymous album that thrust her into the limelight while topping charts in the US, Nigeria, Germany, and Belgium. Bed of Stone and Beautiful Imperfections further cemented Asa’s place in the Nigerian Music hall of fame. Asa established herself as a musical powerhouse whose unique sound was instantly recognizable in any media.

While her first three albums were renowned successes, Asa had a very lukewarm reception to her fourth studio album, Lucid. This is mainly because Afrobeats has gone through many stages of metamorphosis that have shifted and changed with the whims and caprices of the Nigerian public. In Lucid, Asa gave us what her other three albums did, a niche sound that had become more than a little predictable. While Lucid on its own was a beautiful and well-produced album, we had, to an extent at least, come to expect just that from the singer.

When COVID hit, Asa found herself grounded in Nigeria and took time off touring, and finally began work on V, the album from which Mayana is a single. V succeeds in all the areas that Lucid failed to impress. While Asa has always been a good songwriter, she did tend to tell the same story from the same perspective. V, in that regard, pleasantly surprises diehard fans with its unique sound. It proves that Asa can reinvent herself, her sound, and her musical storytelling capabilities. This is Asa like we have never seen before, with a heavy focus on the rhythm that is the bedrock of any good Afro Pop musician. She even adlibs, a very unAsa-like thing to do, on the single IDG.

In V, Mayana stands out. Here, Asa is playful, almost joyous in her delivery. The percussion, the maracas, and the mid-tempo Caribbean feel combined with easy lyrics and a catchy tune make Mayana one of the most repeatable songs on the entire album. It is such a deviation from that classic familiar Asa sound that on first listen, one would be forced to do a double-take because while her voice is recognizable, the delivery is not.

With Mayana, Asa has managed to break out of the stereotype her well-meaning fans have placed her. It is immensely enjoyable, and while different, still the same level of quality music that we have come to expect from the singer. If you are a diehard fan of Asa, you are in for quite a bit of a surprise, but never fear, it is a good surprise.

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.