Get Guardian on GoogleNigerian singer Ayo Benzi has a camera in his face and a chip on nobody’s shoulder. The U-Records & Entertainment artist Ayo Benzi has just stepped out with “Melo” and “Mgbeke,” two records that prove he can survive being watched and still make you dance.
“Melo” is the sound of a man counting his blessings out loud so the people plotting his downfall can hear the tally. Over a moody, percussion-led groove, Ayo Benzi narrates the particular exhaustion of being photographed by people who have never once asked how he is doing, and the discipline of staying alive and staying sharp amid applause and envy.
Then “Mgbeke” walks in and changes the whole room’s temperature. Named for the effortlessly confident, unbothered woman who has become a full personality type in Nigerian pop culture, the song is Ayo Benzi’s funniest writing to date. The record swoons with a funky, hip-swaying roast of every aunty who has ever checked her reflection mid-stride and dared anyone to say something.
Placed side by side, the range speaks for itself. “Melo” is Ayo Benzi keeping his composure under pressure. “Mgbeke” is him losing it completely on purpose, for fun. Neither record is more “real” than the other. Both are.
“Melo is me talking to myself before anybody else gets to talk about me,” says Ayo Benzi. “Mgbeke is me just enjoying somebody else’s main-character energy from a safe distance. I needed to put both out at once so nobody boxes me into just one mood.”
