"Asake stays cautious, opting for a come-one, come-all approach. This perspective influences every element of the record. Asake's Fuji-tinged Afropiano sound is intact, but it has been aerated into a jazz-soaked haze with smoky brass, twinkling keys, and flute trills flickering around the edges. Clubby tracks like "Rora" and "Oba" seem better suited for an Ibiza day party than a Lagos dancefloor."
"It was the friction: the street-coded lyricism that danced between Yoruba aphorisms, Nigerian Pidgin, and English; the rhythmic restlessness that kept you slightly off-balance, never quite sure where a track was heading. On M$NEY, his lyrics are one-dimensional, and most tracks clock in under three minutes, which is just long enough to establish an ambiance but not long enough to complicate it."
"The Soweto Spiritual Singers, a South African gospel choir, arrive before Asake does on the 13-track album, framing M$NEY as a project bigger than its creator. Asake follows their lead, never once stepping outside the boundaries they establish."
After three years with YBNL Nation, Asake founded his independent label Giran Republic and released M$NEY, intended as a personal artistic statement. However, the album represents a departure from his signature style toward mainstream appeal. His Fuji-tinged Afropiano sound has been softened into a jazz-influenced, aerated production with smoky brass and flute elements suited for international venues rather than Lagos dancefloors. The tracks lack the rhythmic restlessness and street-coded lyricism that defined his earlier work, instead featuring one-dimensional lyrics and songs under three minutes. Religious elements, particularly the Soweto Spiritual Singers gospel choir, frame the project as something transcendent, yet the overall execution feels cautious and commercially calculated rather than artistically bold.
#asake-mney-album-review #afrobeats-commercialization #independent-label-debut #artistic-reinvention #genre-experimentation
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