Ferdinand Ekechukwu
Ruger blazes the trail in the Afrobeats game with hits back to back. Making his musical debut in the form of an EP, titled “Pandemic”, the young artiste has kept the pace, making waves and shaking the table ever since. He describes his music in just a couple of words as – melodious, energetic, relatable and toxic! At 23, and firmly within Gen Z, Ruger is able to tap into the phenomena that captivate our youth.
But Ruger, born Michael Olayinka, in his chest thumping single, ‘Asiwaju’, lyrically claims “I be old man, no go dey call me Gen-Z / Brother see, steady giving them gap / Mo ti lo far, they can never near me”. The song highlights his status as one of the most talented artistes in Afrobeats. The blossoming Afrobeats artiste, off his forthcoming album, dropped ‘Asiwaju’, the second track of a double song released same day.
‘Asiwaju’ comes with refreshing bait. And that’s the focus here. Convincingly, the song is another enduring and captivating hit song right from the opening verse. Ruger’s anticipated debut album, not titled yet, is set to be released soon, according to his timetable. The LP would be a jam-packed project. On ‘Asiwaju’, its vibes hooks you with a repeated beat, which then bursts into pure chillness.
Earworm guitar melodies and toe-tapping syncopated drums underpin Ruger’s cascading flow – and all together makes for a track that one can’t stop hitting replay button. It’s already this writer’s ringtone. He croons ‘See, I’m ahead of them, Asiwaju / See, omo na me dey lead, Asiwaju…’ “’Asiwaju is just about my lifestyle as Ruger now. I’m saying I’m ahead of them and nothing can stop me,” Ruger boasts in a recent chat.
The song is without a doubt already blazing fire. Ruger seems to have attracted a lot of attention and quite a fan base across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and further. All thanks to his songs, style and lyricism. And to add, he’s favoured by the groupies. To some music critics and observers, and with the title, ‘Asiwaju’ was dropped at the right time; leveraging on the election trend.
“The song was dropped at the right time; leveraging on the campaign of Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appeal to the politician’s followers and so far, Asiwaju is Ruger’s biggest song according to Turntable, Nigeria official chart,” a critic wrote. Recall that Asiwaju is the traditional title of the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC). Asiwaju is one of the names of Tinubu, and also a name that connotes “being ahead”, “infinity”, etc. Ruger’s Asiwaju boasts of this.
With ‘Asiwaju’, Ruger, who is signed to Jonzing World, stays top spot on the music charts. After his song knocked Zinoleesky’s “Personal” down to second place, the pleased singer tweeted about the outcome on January 1st. Before being briefly ousted by “Personal” in the final week of December 2022, ‘Asiwaju’ led the music charts for four weeks in a row. Ruger recalled how he began the year 2022 with ‘DIOR’ as the top song in the nation in a thank-you post to God and his followers to celebrate his achievements as he wrapped up the previous year.
The singer promises his adoring audience that ‘this year will be a more amazing year for me and my fans.’ The song’s return to the top spot has Ruger reeling with excitement, and 2023 may already be shaping up to be a fantastic year for the patched eye singer.
