Just like a pregnant woman, Asake, the Nigerian-born superstar, returned with his sophomore album exactly nine months after his last output, Mr Money With the Vibe. This new project, released on June 15, 2023, is proudly tagged Work of Art. An audacious tilting.

Asake, a dancer-turned-singer, became an instant sensation in 2022 after Olamide Adedeji, a popular rapper in Nigeria, signed him to his Yahoo Boy No Laptop (YBNL) label. He sounded prepared from the jump. Records and hit records were released in 2022. Shows and concerts were held across the globe. For once, Asake was living his dreams.

Mr Money With the Vibe remains a soon-to-be classic in the music space. The Magicsticks-produced project finds Asake operating from his place of strength: his innate ability to create dance tracks. Sometimes, he takes the listener through a philosophical route. Asake can be deep when he wants to be.

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The year 2023 has seen Asake’s throne challenged by the young and dashing Seyi Vibez. With support from Dvpper Music, Seyi had the street on lock. He became a cynosure of all eyes. Comparisons between him and Asake became a regular topic on Twitter.

Asake replied to these trolls and perceived disrespectful comparisons with “Yoga.” Drawing inspiration from Senegalese music, Asake shows the fans a new side of himself while, at the same time, warning them to leave him alone.

The up-tempo, Amapiano-driven “2:30” fully kickstarted the year. Asake came fully on. He brought clubs and shindig parties to a standstill. These two tracks, and later “Amapiano,” were the lead singles to Work of Art.

With a copious tribute to American “troubled” artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, Asake likened himself to the revered artist on Work of Art. However, the artistic execution of the album makes this aspiration less inspiring.

It is six months into 2023, and Asake still relishes his 2022 sonic run. However, it is not coming back. The new artistes around him are all scrambling for the spot. Work of Art sounds like an attempt to change the narrative, a smart way of attempting to dominate the space. By the second and third spin, however, the lapses and pockets of triumph become noticeable.

On this project, Asake dug deep into his Amapiano toolbox; his forte—to fashion out potential hit songs. His brilliance as an artiste shows more on this South African subgenre.

“Olorun,” the guitar- and chorister-helmed opening track, serves as a synopsis of Asake’s 2022 and the journey preceding the year. Starting this album with a gospel-marinated track is Asake’s way of giving God all the glory and perhaps handing everything over to Him. He is submissive and tries to downplay his brilliance. This is a typical Nigerian Christian way of doing things. The first log drum of the album comes up towards the end of the track as the xylophone seeps in.

The 1976 General Prince Adekunle song “Awodi Nfo Ferere” gets interpolated on “Awodi.” This is a warning track to naysayers, with Asake basking in his achievements. He takes it a little further as he interpolates lines from Lighthouse Family’s uplifting track “Ocean Drive” on “Sunshine.” With the help of choristers, Asake’s message of hope on this track gets lifted. It is a beautiful mix of Yoruba and English.

“Mogbe” celebrates a psychedelic lifestyle. The crowd vocals on this track are troubling. They hinder the song from fully reaching its potential; not even the haunting xylophone could help.

Beyond the name, nothing on “Basquiat” shows that Asake is a walking poet. It assaults the ears with numerous jumbled-up lyrics. The naming of this track feels like a publicity stunt. By the sixth track, the album becomes tiring.

Olamide delivers one of his best verses in recent times on “Amapiano,” produced by the usual suspect, Magicsticks. It is a meeting between mentor and mentee. While Asake tries all he can to level up, Baddo shows that his more than ten years of experience were not a fluke. He has a better grip on the track. However, Asake’s last fourteen-second outro is a solid attempt at leaving a good impression on the listeners.

Asake muddles things up on “What’s Up My G.” It is difficult to understand what he is up to. The topics of discussion are scattered across the song: women, life, enemies and more. It is a confusing track.

Asake’s attempt at motivating the fans on “Believe” fails to elicit much excitement. The assignment at hand even fails to take off. “Introduction” details Asake’s time out with a girl. Another filler track on the album.

The drum break on “Remember” pays tribute to The Remedies’ classic track “Shako Mo.” Asake shows off his potential bedroom antics and street orientation.

“Lonely at the Top” is a highlife track. A fresh breath on this album. Thematically, it details Asake’s self-sufficiency. Lyrically, Asake tells listeners about the duality of life. With its mild-tempo production, the message seeps in more.

On “Great Guy,” Asake celebrates himself while shuffling in some advice for the listeners.

Work of Art sounds like an album you release to renegotiate a new record-label contract, or perhaps an album you release as a send-off from a label.

Asake’s attempt to compare this album to Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work stops at the title and artwork. The execution of this album is nothing close to Basquiat.

Sonically, Asake is stuck. While he makes attempts to stretch out his sonic range, these attempts are few and far between. They sometimes fail to leave much of an impression on the fans.

I see some of the tracks on this album as songs that did not make it onto Mr Money With the Vibe. He just compiled them all and slapped a second-album tag on them.

Work of Art is nothing close to an art. It is just an artiste releasing an album: an hurried attempt not to starve the fans of music.