Emmanuel Daraloye Features on BBC World Service

By Dupe Olaniyi

Nigerian music journalist and culture writer Emmanuel Daraloye was featured on British Broadcasting Corporation World Service on the 31st of December, 2025, to discuss the year’s viral slangs in Nigeria and Afrobeats, specifically the audience reception of Burna Boy and Davido’s albums.

At about 17:30 Nigeria time on the evening of the last day of the year 2025, the interview with Emmanuel Daraloye alongside two other creatives from the United States and the United Kingdom took place on the BBC World Service network, which examined global trends from different continents. Responding to the question on what trend has registered this year in Nigeria, Emmanuel noted that, “In the first quarter of the year, there was a popular word in Nigeria called ‘Achalugo.’” It’s an Igbo word. An endearing word for ladies…”

Buttering his statement, Emmanuel Daraloye cited that this trendy word, “Achalugo,” was from a movie, “Love in Every Word,” which he noted garnered over 15 million views within two weeks, cementing its place as one of the fastest-growing movies in Nigeria in the first quarter of the year 2025. On the show, Emmanuel emphasized and spoke further, “… for their girlfriends, for their wives. To show you how big it was, some parents were even naming their children Achalugo.” Emmanuel, reiterating that the word was from a movie, mentioned the name of the producer, Omoni Oboli, and the names of the two main characters involved, Uzor Arukwe and BamBam. “And according to Google, Achalugo is the most-searched word in Nigeria in 2025,” Emmanuel asserted in the interview.

Dabbling into the issues between Taylor Swift and Beyonce, Emmanuel pointed out that “… there is always a face-off between them”; however, each artist has massive fans here in Nigeria. From this, the interviewer led to the discussion of viral musician moments in Nigeria, specifically mentioning Burna Boy and Davido and their albums. Emmanuel confirmed that “… those are part of the two biggest artists from Nigeria… and the album got nominated for Grammys in different categories, but the reception to Burna Boy’s album was lukewarm.”

Recall that Emmanuel Daraloye hinted on his social media 21 days before the interview. On the 10th of December, 2025, in a post on his Facebook page, Emmanuel wrote, “I got a call from BBC World Service. I will gist you all tomorrow.” This garnered close to 200 reactions on his post and lots of comments, the most popular of which was given by an international photographer, Victor Helb. He wrote, “The international Emmanuel Daraloye, I celebrate you.”

According to the music critic, Emmanuel Daraloye, when he posted the interview on his social media page, he noted that it was a good way to end 2025, and he appreciated Iqra Farooq for the opportunity. When later asked by a mentee how he felt about the interview, he described the BBC World Service feature as affirming, expressing that it validated all the years of documenting Nigerian music and culture. Emmanuel added, noting that the moment brought about the essence of telling local stories to the globe.

With eleven years of experience as a journalist, Emmanuel Daraloye has already established himself as an important figure in the Nigerian music space. He currently splits his time between Lagos and Ibadan.