As in other music industries, collaborations between dedicated songwriters and performing artists have shaped some of the biggest and most romantic hits in Afrobeats. Though the industry traditionally relied heavily on uncredited ghostwriting, many incredible “pen-smiths” are now celebrated for their contributions.
Many famous romantic songs were written by dedicated professional songwriters or separate writing teams rather than the artists who performed them. “I Will Always Love You” was initially written and performed by Dolly Parton, but was made into a massive romantic ballad by Whitney Houston.
In his contribution to PaulsmithLB’s music, songwriter Olalekan Adeyemo lends his pen and melodies to the singer on the 2022 romantic song “Best Friends,” whose youthful contemporary themes are similar to “Just A Friend,” Mario Dewar’s classic about the angst and frustration of being stuck in the friend zone.
The song’s title signifies affection on the surface, but it is, in fact, a complaint for unrequited love. Adeyemo uses the verses to spell out the emotional confusions of loving someone and not being loved in return.
It discusses the confusion of a man who can’t stop thinking about the woman he loves, to the extent where his feelings keep him awake at night. At first, he struggles to find the right words. But after spending days thinking about it, he finally gathers the courage to express his feelings. “Baby, I don’t know how to say this / But I’m done with this drama,” he writes, and PaulsmithLB melodiously interprets the lyrics in a voice laden with despair of being lovelorn, adding how he is losing sleep because he couldn’t think right.
With the chorus, Adeyemo makes the man’s situation even more uncomfortable. The woman has no issue with just being a friend, to keep the admirer around for light-hearted conversations, but never as a romantic partner. That’s a difficult position for the suitor to accept. His pride is bruised, but he refuses to walk away. Even after he is confined to the dreaded friend zone, he still hopes that the lady might change her mind and become a lover and plans to start a family with him.
Adeyemo returns to the same pursuit of love in the next verse. He writes that rejection has done little to weaken the suitor’s determination, finding it difficult to let go because he is bewitched by the lady’s smile and beauty. So, instead of retreating, he makes another attempt to prove himself to win her over. “And I told her wait, baby, wait / I find it hard to let go oh,” PaulsmithLB sings, showing that he isn’t willing to give up on his love for her. “Anywhere you go, girl, me I follow go / Make I fight for you, I will be your commando.” His plea to love her unconditionally falls on deaf ears. The lady insists on being just a friend to the suitor.
“Best Friends” lyrics are close to everyday discussion on matters of the heart and its caprices. Adeyemo’s conversational writing focuses on the narrator who recounts his frustrations about his heavy heart. In some segments, however, they become cliché and couldn’t enhance the story. Its simple language, though appealing, reduces the cruelty of the narrator’s rejection, indicating that Adeyemo relies on unfounded sentiments when he runs out of inspiration.
Working within the familiar Afrobeats catchy lyrical arrangement the verses, bridge, and chorus gives the song a steady flow which allows the story of one-sided affection to unravel easily. Singing in a bright but painful tone that reflects really hurt, PaulsmithLB adheres to Adeyemo’s composition of a spurned love. Still, Remain on the surface, Adeyemo doesn’t push past the familiar tropes to give cogent reasons for the rejection.
The “commando” line undercuts the song’s emotional stakes at exactly the wrong moment. Adeyemo builds a portrait of quiet, sleepless longing for most of the song, then breaks the mood with a boast that can be considered rhymes without reasons. It feels like a line chosen for its rhyme with “follow,” not for what it reveals about the suitor. The sudden shift from vulnerability to boasting happens too fast to be regarded as characterisation.
Adeyemo never lets the woman exist as anything more than an obstacle. The little voice he gives her is deprived of interiority beyond her refusal, which reduces the song’s conflict. Rejection in a story is convincing when the person doing the rejecting is seen as a person and not a mere object of affection. As it stands, her “no” functions only as a plot device to extend the suitor’s suffering, which limits how much we can actually feel for either of them.
