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“The guy who sang ‘Sweet Mother’ was hit by an okada and died for nothing” - Adesope

Season 6, Ep. 73
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When Shopsydoo’s (Adesope Olajide) father came to visit him in the UK he couldn’t believe the life his son was living. He asked him - “You left a life as a prince to come and live like a pauper here?”


But he stuck with his dreams for himself and his family. 


Now, no major Afrobeats concert in Europe and the United Kingdom is complete without Adesope. He is of the country’s biggest hype men and MCs.  


We talk about how that industry and that sound has changed over the years - from 2face and Psquare to Rema and Fireboy - changed the world and changed his life. 


“Black women didn’t want to date us because we had Nigerian accents,” he tells me. “But now, because of Afrobeats it is now mainstream to be African, to come from Africa, to be part of the culture.”


He says he will forgive Tiwa Savage and Wizkid because these pioneers made it possible for this change to happen.


And he tells me the greatest lessons he has learnt from the great successes and great failures of Nigeria’s music industry. 


Consider this a masterclass.

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