Olamide’s ‘Hate Me’ Visuals is Striking, Here’s Why

Iyke Bede

Arguably, space-themed music videos are no longer a novel idea, but it remains a thrilling

In the 90s, we saw Michael Jackson and his sister Janet replicate what it would be like boarding a space shift in their collaborative piece ‘Scream’. Later in the early 2010s, Katy Perry released stunning visuals to ‘E.T.’ that explores alien life.

For a long time in the Nigerian music industry, the space music video genre was not explored for obvious technological shortcomings. Not even Burna Boy could fully pull off the concept with his futuristically titled sophomore album ‘On a Spaceship’; however, that has changed. 

On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, Nigerian rapper Olamide returned with his first single of the year, a fast-paced afrobeats tune titled ‘Hate Me’, which sees singer Wande Coal provide a Micheal Jackson-esque chorus. With lyrics steeped in braggadocio, the track does not present any prominent changes to Olamide’s rap style. His consistency is felt throughout the entire three and half minute video. 

While the bravado he evinces is typical of an Olamide song, the visuals for ‘Hate Me’ says otherwise in terms of the themes it explores. 

Set on a spaceship gliding through space, it adopts a sci-fi approach for its visual aesthetics. It banks partly on a backdrop of video vixens. A few seconds into the video, a sense of uniformity is established with all male and female dancers in their space inspired gears, but that’s until Olamide shows up alongside Wande donning simple, out of place casual wears reminiscent of a ’90s hip hop video.

Directed by TG Omori, the pair sticks out like a sore thumb. It was almost as though the effort put in by the costume department was overlooked, or at worse shunned. A colourful video regardless, this singular oddity takes away from its overall appeal.

On a more positive note, ‘Hate Me’ is a reflection of how far Nigerian musicians, nowadays, are willing to go the extra mile to animate their art. It no longer starts and ends with putting out a good song; the essence is further fleshed with thematic videos.