There’s so much music out there that it’s hard for even the most loyal fans to stay up with their favourite artists or what’s new and hot right now. That’s why we’ve created #BumpThis – a daily series that features the one song you need to listen to, every day. Don’t say we never did anything for you.
Any other artist would be critiqued harshly for remixing an old release – “Give Me Love” – and putting it out 8 months later as the follow-up to the biggest song in the country, but not Fireboy. 2019 has been kind to Nigerian music fans in many ways – Fireboy and his mega-hit “Jealous” are arguably its biggest gifts thus far.
He may still be basking in the euphoria of his sudden rise to the top of playlists and charts, but Fireboy’s follow-up, “What If I Say” is a rhythm-soaked love song that confidently doubles down on the Lagos crooner’s strengths. It’s hard not to fall in love with it, or the lady in the video, or Fireboy himself.
YBNL vet Pheelz creates an adventurous soundscape that fits the exotic destinations and rural life that Fireboy wades through in the video, as well as Fireboy’s promises of endless love. The song feels like a young man who’s ready to put it all on the line – and you just want to root for him.
It’s as true of the song as it is of massive support he’s amassed as the antithesis to the much-lauded DIY sub-culture emerging out of Lagos. Languid and emotive as he can be, Goku has nothing on this kid.
Listen to Fireboy DML’s “What If I Say” here.
