Making back-to-back hits in the music scene could be a devil of a job because the creative site is not only exhaustive, but its use is also exhausting. This, however, does not apply to Asake, the man who has a nose for singing, dancing, drumming and many more.
Ahmed ‘Asake’ Ololade was born on January 13, 1995, to an entrepreneur father and a teacher mother. He started performing at a tender age and released several freestyles online, which made him gain favourable popularity among audiences. With the help of Nigerian Influencers such as Tunde Ednut, Broda Shaggi and Sydney Talker, who further publicised his face and content, Asake roused more interest among his budding fans, his rap-esque choruses and striking cadences a canvas of what was to come.
Asake fully came into the limelight in 2020 when he dropped Magicsticks-produced ‘Mr Money’. To him, it was just another recording. Still, as luck would have it, the song received critical acclaim among music lovers and took his name to grand proportions within the entertainment industry.
As a young boy, Asake was rather interested in dance and he was good at it. During his time as a student of Theater & Performing arts at the esteemed Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, where he had his degree, he focused more on dance, spending his free hours practicing to improve his skill and thrilling his colleagues and staff members.
Still, his love for and talent in music were bubbling behind the curtains and this background hum would eventually become the be-all and end-all.
Speaking with Punch, the real go-getter gave a backstory to his foray into music.
‘Yes, music has always been my lifelong dream. I started with dancing and ended in music. It is the only thing I know I can do comfortably that gives me inner joy and peace. It started back in school when I was performing at school functions. It felt good and I made sure that feeling never left.’
In what he termed a miracle, Asake became a YBNL signee when his friend, Yemolee, helped play his songs for rapper Olamide. Olamide liked the song ‘Omo ope’ and they did a remix together. After the song and video were released, Olamide “casually” asked him to join the family.
Since then, Asake has been relentlessly making waves and easily leading the charts one hit at a time, dubbing him the title, ‘the man with no bad songs’.
Asake released his debut EP, Ololade Asake, a project that boasts of four hit tracks – ‘Omo Ope’, ‘Sungba’, ‘Trabaye’, and ‘Baba God’. He further performed ‘Baba God’ at a live session organized by Glitch Africa in February 2022.
He collaborated with Grammy Award winner Burna Boy to record the remix of ‘Sungba’. The song was released on the 28th of March 2022 and topped music charts for several weeks.
He appeared as a featured artist on DJ Spinall‘s song, Palazzo. The song was released on May 13, 2022, and has become an anthem in the mouths of music lovers.
You would agree that Asake, toppling other rising stars such as BNXN, Lojay, Victony, Ruger and Portable, truly deserves to cop the NET Honours Breakout Artiste of the Year (2022) award. After an impressive feat in such a short time in the music space, it’s only fitting that Mr Money polishes his budding shelf, inundated with no bad songs, with an award of recognition.
See the full list of winners here.
