WO! The streets called and Olamide answered

ynaija.com

Won ni won wa wa n’igboro | Won ni won ti miss wa n’igboro 

Translation: They say they’ve been searching for us on the streets | They say they missed us on the streets

The first two lines of verse one in Olamide’s latest viral single, W0!! aptly communicate the essence of his reemergence into the streets. It’s not like Olamide ever went anywhere. He released Summer Body only a month ago and even Davido’s presence on that track couldn’t save it from being a flop. There was Wavy Level before then and yes, that was one hit song but only by the standards of Olamide’s posh audience. How does one forget Pepper Dem Gang, the slay queen anthem?

All great efforts but not sufficient to satisfy the yearnings of the streets. The last the people of Bariga and its extensions (by that, we mean all of us) heard from Olamide wasWho U Epp – the 2016 blessing that birthed multiple remixes from upcomers and professionals alike. But that’s debatable! Some street kids will ask us to take several seats and cast our minds farther back to 2015. They’ll argue that the last time Olamide truly spoke their language was with Shakiti Bobo. That one even came with its own customised dance step. And yes, we’ll agree.

Wo!! barged into our collective consciousness at a time when we had settled for and were quite comfortable with Small Doctor’sPenalty. Let’s be frank, Olamide was generous enough to allow his younger colleague enjoy the limelight, airplay and talkability. Thanks boss!

Maybe he seemed out of touch for so long but Olamide has an innate knowledge of the cravings of his disciples; so he leveraged on that and the power that social media challenges wield especially when there’s a monetary value attached. Wo! Challenge was set up for success and it did more than that. For those who participated for the 1 million naira prize money, others who did it out of curiosity, Olamide who remains the king of the streets and the rest of us who now have Wo!! on perpetual replay, everybody wins.