Nigerian singer and songwriter Adekunle “Adekunle Gold” Kosoko has explained his decision to record a Fuji-themed album and keep the identities of the featured artistes secret until its release.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the 38-year-old artiste released the 15-track project, his sixth studio album, on 3 October.
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The tracks on the album he described as his most significant work yet are, “Bobo”, “Coco Money,”, “Big Fish”, “Don Corleone”, “Believe”, “My Love is The Same”, “Love is An Action”, “Many People”, “Attack”, “Only God Can Save Me”, “Lailo”, “Oba”, “Simile”, “I’m Not Done”, and “Obimo.”
Speaking during an interview on Cool FM, uploaded to the station’s YouTube channel on Thursday, the father of one said he chose not to reveal the featured artistes because he doesn’t want to fixate.
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The “Orente” crooner noted: “I miss days when the only thing that mattered was music (the song), not its optics or who’s on it. We’re so spoiled now that we no longer understand how to enjoy music. When I made my first album, I had only one feature, and it was one of my most significant works. So I must return to simpler times when the music mattered to me, not who’s on it.
“I need you (fans or listeners) to enjoy the music, whoever’s voice you hear, and all of that. That’s fine. I’ll reveal it later to you, but before fixating on it, I need to listen to this one because somebody’s on it. Enjoy the journey. I crafted this album intentionally. That’s why I said listen to it from top to bottom, because that’s the only way normal people should listen to music. Why would you want to skip just because there’s a feature there? Then it makes no sense. I wanted to hide the feature intentionally because I want you (listeners) to enjoy the music or do all the guesswork they want.”
Fuji
Additionally, the Lagos-born singer stated that the album cover and its tracks were deliberately crafted to provide an enjoyable listening experience.
He added that each album represents a specific era, reflecting personal experiences he wishes to share with his audience.
“That album art is a tribute to one of Sikiru Ayinde Barrister’s cover arts. There’s a particular one where he wore the exact hat I was wearing. I mean, not the exact one, like a hat and dressed like that. I just wanted to pay tribute to what has been done before. People expect me to wear traditional clothes like I’ve done before.
“Why do I have to do that? This Fuji is the sound I was handed, and it’s just like taking my grandfather’s Agbada and sewing something else. The acronym Fuji means ‘Finding Uncharted Journeys Inside’. I woke up one morning, realising that I’ve done music all my life. I need to start doing other things that I enjoy, find fulfilment and other things that I enjoy”, said Adekunle Gold.
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Only God Can Save Me
Furthermore, the singer revealed the reason behind featuring his colleague, David “Davido” Adeleke, on the tenth track of the album, “Only God Can Save Me.”
He explained that the inspiration for the song came to him during a morning walk.
Adekunle Gold noted, “If you work with someone who loves and enjoys music, then if you have an excellent relationship, I think it’ll be easier to work. David and I are incredible. We hang out. We share music and all those things. So when I was writing the song, it was a morning walk. I had the idea that only God can save me. How do I look at it and find what goes on with me?
“I sent it to my friend Michael. I told him exactly how I wanted the direction to be regarding the music, and I knew that the only person who could share his light and tell this story about women is Davido. I said, Guy, let’s talk, so I sent him the song, and then we linked in the studio in Atlanta. We wrote this verse, which was incredible when we did this song.”
