Nigerian singer/songwriter WurlD continues to shape the current climate of music radiating from Africa with his highly anticipated new body of work, “Afrosoul”.
Showing significant levels of workrate – this being his third full length release in 18 months – “Afrosoul” emerges as a thrillingly sophisticated and layered collection. WurlD’s soulful vocal performance effortlessly glides over production styles that dip between R&B and Pop, underpinned by deep African rhythms and finely worked Jazz elements. Including the COLORS-backed “Ghost Town” (which has amassed over 180K views in its first week), “Love Nobody” and recent release “Wayo” as well as four other unreleased tracks, the Lagos-born artist has crafted a significant statement of his ability, and with it, establishes himself as a new vanguard of the Afropop movement.
From saxophone-laced groove “National Anthem”, to the Afrobeats jumper “Story” to the soulful, “Birthday Song/Palmwine Riddim” with its sprawling, sonorous Fuji roots, the EP is marked by WurlD’s penmanship, underlining his credits on hits for the likes of B.O.B, Davido and Akon in his precocious career so far.
WurlD describes the project as: “a fusion of Afrobeat and Electronic/Soul vibes”, and positions the project as one which “further defines my unique sound and ability to connect with my fans in vast regions”.
WurlD has crafted a project rich in sounds, substance, and emotional depth – one that validates and reinforces the early promise from heavyweight tastemakers incl. THE FADER, VIBE and OKAYAFRICA. The swift capture of over 40M streams worldwide point similarly to the kind of gravitas that WurlD is commanding even at this stage.
The petrol blue-haired maverick continues to define himself as one of the trend-setting artists rising out of Africa right now. Be sure to keep your eyes and ears on him as he ascends to greater heights in 2020.
Stream Afrosoul here.