It is an exciting time to be an African musician and perhaps an even more exciting time to be CKay as he sits at the helm of contemporary African music alongside other superstars who have been able to traverse geographical and cultural borders with their music. To end what has been a pivotal year in his career as a global artist, the Nigerian singer-songwriter pairs up with director Tee Tash to deliver his newest music video for ‘by now’, a fan-favourite off his debut album Sad Romance.
His most recent video for ‘Mmadu’, which premiered on the 9th of November, is a work of art in itself. The song and its visual companion piece celebrate intimacy and sensuality. With ‘by now’, the storytelling is more direct, helping the viewer to misunderstand very little about CKay’s intentions. Tash follows CKay as he pursues a love interest who isn’t as forthcoming as the singer hopes she would be. As such, it is his persistence that drives the story from scene to scene; steadfast and unrelenting.
CKay took fans on a journey with Sad Romance, one perhaps not all were expecting. The superstar’s music was always going to be dissimilar to other Afrobeats releases at any given time by virtue of both the singer’s dedication to and his fans’ infatuation with Emo-Afrobeats but, his debut album dove much deeper into that fantasy. From the choice of instrumentation, production, collaboration, and the overall soundscape the album orbits around, Sad Romance is a unique project that is reflective and emotionally charged. It’s an album that requires fans to go further than merely listening but asks them to reimagine the breadth of what an Afrobeats record might sound like. The intrigue of the album is its devotion to vulnerability and tension, which are consummate elements of the rich energy the project holds.
To celebrate the premiere of the ‘by now’ visuals and surpassing one billion views on the platform, CKay will be hosting a live Q&A session on YouTube. This will give fans a chance to catch up with their favourite musician hours after he’s performed in Lagos, Nigeria, since his album launch in September.
