The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.
Asake is one of the most exciting acts in a Nigerian Afrobeats scene that’s produced what has quickly become a dominant sound in the pop universe at large. Signed in February to Olamide’s YBNL Nation label — also home to scene leaders Fireboy DML and DJ Enimoney — he’ll drop his debut album, Mr. Money With The Vibe, on September 2 with global support from label partner EMPIRE.
Thursday night (Friday morning West African Standard Time), Asake shared a new track titled “Terminator,” his forthcoming record’s third single — it follows mid-album cut “Peace Be Unto You (PBUY)” and closer “Sungba” (feat. Burna Boy) chronologically but is listed second on the project’s tracklist. In true Arnoldian fashion, Asake murders Magicsticks’ uplifting instrumental in cold blood, his smooth, celestial vocals seemingly unbothered by the damage they’ve done. “Don’t be late / Don’t keep me waiting / No procrastinating,” he sings, firing a warning shot at a flaky romantic partner. “Terminator / We done get agreement / No terminating,” he continues on a more conciliatory note, perhaps a nod to the ex-California governor’s more complex character arc in the second installment of the song’s namesake film series.
The music video for “Terminator,” “shot and chopped” by TG Omori , fights viciously in a sand pit for the love of a femme fatale, wins, and travels with her through a series of more sophisticated settings, making multiple outfit changes along the way. Watch it above, and listen to Fireboy DML and Brandon Callender’s discussion of Asake’s standout contribution to Fireboy’s “Bandana” on the audio version of The FADER Interview‘s 56th episode.
