I Have Been Paid Ridiculous Amount, Used Without Appreciation, Ololade Asake (pic)
Ahmed Asake is currently a bomb in Nigerian hip hop music industry. He needs no introduction when you hear “Ololade mi Asake” and vibe songs like The Palazo, Omope, Sungba.
An Olamide’s YBNL signee takes us on a memory lane how he managed to read stardom:
I came into the limelight in 2020, when I dropped ‘Mr Money.’ It was a freestyle I did with my friend and producer, Magicsticks. For me it was just another recording, l didn’t know it was going to be so big, that was when I tasted fame and how it started for me.
It feels good to be appreciated for one’s hard work and I wouldn’t call myself one of the raves, I would rather say one of the hardworking individuals putting out their works and it’s been appreciated by fans. Honestly it feels good but also puts me under pressure to work even harder.
Yes, music has always been my lifelong dream. I started with dancing and ended in music. It is the only thing I know I can do comfortably that gives me inner joy and peace. It started back in school when I was performing at school functions. It felt good and I made sure that feeling never left.
Getting signed to YBNL was a miracle, one of my friends, Yemolee, played my songs for Olamide to listen to. He liked ‘Omo ope’ and we did the remix together. After the song and video was released, he asked me to come to the house and casually asked “will you like to join the family?” I was blown away with excitement and took the deal as fast as it came. Today it remains one of the best decisions I ever made.
The progress was unstable, people liked my music but didn’t know my face. I had been paid ridiculous amounts and been used without appreciation. Now I’m happy with where I am and the progression of my career.
I’m human, I was discouraged but I told myself if this last set of songs didn’t work out, I would go to either London or Paris to start modeling. I have got a strong personality and carriage, I understand fashion and give it a 100 every time, so if I hadn’t gotten my shot in music, I would have delved into modeling but little did I know that my time was here!
The thing is I am focused on me, my craft and how to keep making my fans happy. The industry is what it is, I work really hard to make my music and I put a lot of my time into my music. I don’t check-balance other artistes because I believe everyone is unique in their own ways. I am Asake, I am my own sound and music.
I am always ready. For me, it is not even about the fans, it is me. I love to work and record new songs, I am my own competition. I like to raise the bar at every given opportunity. I’m not going to wait for the fans to demand. I will keep choking them with a lot of my music because there is a lot coming and I really need to put it out for all to enjoy.
No pain no gain. I work constantly, I pray harder and I haven’t partied since I got signed. If you see me anywhere, I was paid to be there and that’s work; speaking of that I should probably host a party for myself. Everyone who has seen me perform knows I put in all. I studied theatre arts so you can imagine how I own the stage when I hold the microphone.
The lowest amount I was paid was N20,000 all the way to Akure and I still went with six dancers. But I was passionate and didn’t care about the money. I am about the music creation while my record label and team are about the charges.
