Afropop megastar Asake made Apple Music history with his debut album, Mr. Money with the Vibe, which recorded the biggest opening day for an African album on its release in 2022. His fourth studio album, M$NEY, finds the Nigerian singer-songwriter cashing in stacks of the international acclaim he accrued in the intervening years, resulting in his most global-facing body of work yet.Β
That isnβt to say the core elements of Asakeβs soundβhigh-octane beats, powerful hooks, fΓΊjΓ¬ influencesβhave been abandoned or compromised. Tracks such as βGratitudeβ and βForgivenessβ marry propulsive indigenous grooves and stirring, choral refrains with soulful, soul-searching melodies; amapiano titan Kabza De Small tags in on momentum-building baller anthem βAsambeβ. Even the more overt cross-genre experimentsβthe golden-age R&B sound of βObaβ or DJ Snakeβs festival-ready drops in βWORSHIPββretain Asakeβs sonic DNA as the dominant expression, succeeding in subsuming more instantly recognisable beats (Amerieβs 2005 smash hit β1 Thingβ, as sampled on Tiakola collab βBADMAN GANGSTAβ) and making them his own. Itβs the same carefully managed balance of authenticity and expansion Asake has bet on for his entire career. With M$NEY, he hits the jackpot once again.