Watch Asake’s Jimmy Fallon performance

The ‘Sungba’ hitmaker’s appearance follows the recent release of ‘Yoga’, his first single for the year, and an impressive streak of 2022 offerings culminating in the arrival of his debut album Mr Money With The Vibe.

On The Tonight Show, Asake performed a live medley comprising ‘Yoga’ and ‘Organise’. He was backed by UK-based Afrobeats band The Compozers.

Asake’s Tonight Show appearance has been roundly praised on social media, including by fellow musician Simi, who tweeted that Asake’s sound is “unique and very representative of us”, adding that it is “hard to mimic that, and he’s on international stages. I love it so much.” 

Born Ahmed Ololade, Asake is a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University. He is signed to Olamide’s YBNL label, which is also home to Fireboy DML. He gained mainstream attention with ‘Omo Ope’ last year and released an eponymous Ololade EP shortly after. 

Asake’s sound beautifully marries Afrobeats and amapiano. He is widely regarded as the biggest Nigerian breakout star of 2022. He is a brand ambassador for Nigerian sports entertainment company Parimatch, and was recently selected for YouTube’s Black Voices Fund Music class of 2023.

Leading streaming services, including Boomplay and Spotify, have named him among lat year’s most streamed artists in sub-Saharan Africa.

In December, announcing the singer as its Artist of the Year for 2022, streaming platform Audiomack said: “Amidst an explosion of amapiano, and West African music’s continued global rise, Asake has conquered cross-cultural fusion like no one else. Hearing his music at the clubs and kickbacks, and seeing him in major magazines, it’s easy to think Asake’s lightning ascent is at least partly staged. More truthfully, the artist seized a Promethean fire, arriving right as the world was ready to open itself up to dance.”