By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian hitmaker, Adekunle Adekunle Gold Kosoko, has signed with a top recording label, Def Jam, in a deal that will see the company release his fifth studio album later this year.
In a scoop with music publication, Billboard, Def Jam CEO/chairman, Mr Tunji Balogun, said that the label had been following the High crooner for the last six years when he was Olamide’s YBNL label and made Sade, a localised version of One Direction’s Story of My Life.
He said, “Over the years, everything in AG’s world has elevated — his songwriting has refined, the scope of his artistry has widened, his vocals have strengthened, his approach to fashion is more distinct, and his showmanship and performance ability have grown exponentially.
“He’s stepped into stardom on his own terms and is completely comfortable being his true self.”
“When I started at Def Jam, I knew I wanted to bring the label into the Afrobeats space tastefully, with the right artists and partnership. Adekunle felt like the perfect fit – he’d already done so much work on his own to build a base, but I knew that we could scale his audience to an even higher level if we combined our energies and worked together,” Mr Balogun added.
Speaking on the deal, the Ire crooner said, “The track record is there. The history is there. They break artists, and they have a niche, unique artists like me, so I think it’s the right move for me. All of the things that I’ve done for myself already, they know already, and that’s why they’re on board.”
The first single from the new relationship is a song titled Party No Dey Stop with Marlian Music wunderkind, Zinoleesky, which dropped on Wednesday, March 15.
It was revealed that an album will drop in June after which the singer will embark on a four-month world tour starting in North America in September and then to the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and the Caribbean through next year.
On Olamide’s label, Adekunle Gold released his first album Gold in 2017, and after his exit, he released three albums, and he did two through his label, Afro Urban Records. 2018’s About 30 and 2022’s Catch Me If You Can. He released his 2020 album, Afro Pop, Vol. 1, under EMI.
“Hear it from me. Afrobeats is taking over the world,” Adekunle Gold told the publication.
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