Afro-pop artist and musician, Adekunle Gold, premieres "Fuji", an impressive 15-track Afrobeat LP serving their growing fanbase. At just over 40 minutes, the album serves as a document, firmly grounded in Yoruba musical tradition while reaching across the globe. In doing so, with this album, Adekunle Gold is laying the foundation for him to be remembered as a cultural bridge between his home in Nigeria and all of our ears wherever we are.
"Fuji" marks a triumph of growth, experimentation, and confidence following his 2023 release, "Tequila Ever After." Drawing from a stellar array of collaborators, Haze, Jacques, Wizkid, and Oxlade, as well as the Nigerian star's fiery energy and 6LACK's velvety R&B touch, Tkay Maidza's genre-blurring attitude, and Robert Glasper's jazz fluidity, Adekunle Gold. The result is a rich tapestry of sound that crosses borders while remaining distinctly African at its core.
To listen to "Fuji" is to hear the tone and mood of this album in full color. That register tricks you into thinking this will be a self-assured, swaggering album, when in fact it's also an intimate and introspective one. Songs like "Big Fish" feature Adekunle Gold's enduring level of self-affirmation, a metaphor for resilience, power, and achieving success on his own terms. The groove is infectious, grounded in rhythm-heavy percussion and melodies that pay homage to the spirit of "Fuji" as much as they take on a modern pulse.
On "Love Is an Action," Adekunle Gold makes weakness a virtue. It's a heartfelt reminder that love is more than a word, it's a verb, a rhythm that must be lived and felt. His voice, suave and controlled, cruises through the production further proving to be one of the album's most soulful and emotionally charged moments. Then there's "Believe," since before it starts to jerk, the track is both a prayer and a promise. It's steeped in optimism and gratitude, the sound of a man who's faced down his demons and settled into peace with his purpose.
Fuji is more than a record; it's a movement, a tribute to identity, progression, and creativity. Adekunle Gold has created something timeless yet fresh, intimate yet universal. With this project, he's not just showing love for the past but also staking a claim in its future, and doing so with freely, beautifully, unmistakably his own vision.