Asake Continues Strides with ‘Mr. Money with the Vibe’

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

Fast rising Nigerian star Asake on the heels of his US tour roared into New York last Friday night with a show in support of his wave-making debut album, ‘Mr. Money With the Vibe’, which features Afrobeats icon Burna Boy as well as American rapper, Russ. His set that Friday night at New York’s Palladium Times Square – the largest venue on his tour – saw him backed by a full band, including horns, to bring his jazz-influenced sound into a live setting.

Clad in an all-denim ensemble and his trademark black sunglasses, he performed his entire debut album in order, starting with the album’s mid-tempo opener, “Dull”. But as the set-list continued and the songs became livelier, so did Asake. The red-hot artiste has an outsized stage presence, and it will be interesting to see how he works in larger venues, with bigger productions and dancers.

Meanwhile, Asake’s management outfit, 1805 entertainment, has officially addressed the incident surrounding the singer’s need to step off the stage in the middle of his performance at the Baltimore stop of his ‘Mr. Money With The Vibe,’ US tour. Recall, in a clip which was shared on social media, Asake was seen hurriedly whisked off the stage bringing his performance on the night of Sunday, October 10, 2022, to an end.

Reacting, 1805 entertainment apologized to fans for the abrupt and unexpected action that took place on stage as the action had been necessitated due to incidents that had been beyond their control following numerous videos that had surfaced to that effect. Asake has so far sold out three dates for the 5,000 capacity O2Brixton Hall and a 4th date will see him sell out 20,000 tickets which is the size of the O2.

Headlining the O2 will be another giant and unprecedented stride for a breakout artiste in a year where Asake’s ‘Mr. Money With The Vibe’ has broken streaming records and emerged as the biggest Afrobeats artiste. On Friday, September 30th 2022, Asake put out the ticket for his first London show which was held on October 3rd and the ticket sold out in five minutes.

This led Asake to put out another date for 15th December which sold out in minutes and led to the announcement of another 17th December show which like the two dates also sold out in minutes. Asake admitted that he might have downplayed the level of acceptance and patronage he enjoys in the UK where his debut album ‘Mr. Money With The Vibe’ reached NO.1 on the UK Apple Music Album Chart and spend multiple days atop the chart. In light of this, Asake revealed that he is working on a bigger venue and the information will be released soon.

His statement has led to speculations that he might be eyeing the 20,000 O2 Arena which has been headlined by Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy. Mr Money sold-out the priority list tickets for his concert at the 02 Academy, London in less than two minutes. The YBNL artiste had announced he will make a stop in the UK where he’ll be performing in Birmingham and Manchester on December 3rd and 10th, respectively.

He’s also billed to perform at the 4,000-plus capacity 02 Academy Brixton Arena, London on December 11, 2022. 2022 has been an incredible year for the artist real name Ahmed Ololade Asake who has enjoyed an unprecedented run he capped with his record-breaking debut album ‘Mr. Money With The Vibes’. His music has travelled internationally where it found an impressive audience in UK and the US. Everything that concerns the artiste is here to stay.

From his unique form of music to his blend of fashion style and swagger, coupled with the manner he creates music almost everyone on the street could tap into every diverse story he brings to light. Even on his debut studio album “Mr. Money With The Vibe,” he becomes a sparse creator. Mr. Money as he is often called explores stories that make him wax stronger.

The album had snagged a spot on the world Billboard Album Chart. Recall that Billboard on Monday, September 19, 2022, shared a statement noting that the singer had made his debut on the chart at number 66 with his very first album. The album contains 12 tracks, including previously released singles like Sungba (feat. Burna Boy), Peace Be Unto You and Terminator.

One of the tracks, titled “Reason,” features American rapper Russ. This makes it the fourth ever highest charting Nigerian album after Burna Boy’s ‘Love, Damini’ which debuted at NO.18, Wizkid’s ‘Made In Lagos’ which debuted at No. 28, and Burna Boy’s Grammy-winning ‘Twice As Tall’ which debuted at No. 54.

From being a dedicated hustler, who pronounced that he won’t dull to make ends meet, he grows in gratitude to God, and also littered his emotion for his woman around a few tracks on the album. As well, he laced the project with more of his native Yoruba dialect, pidgin English, and often barrels of loaded slang that cuts across most titles of the project.