Afrobeats star, Asake, gets backlash for “disrespecting Christianity”

Famous afrobeats star, Ahmed Ololade aka Asake has incurred backlash for using perceived Christian imagery in his soon to be released video for his song Only Me.

The Nigerian singer is being accused of “mocking” Christianity in the video whose trailer was released recently.

In the video Asake wore a Christian priest’s regalia.

The singer sprays money at his dancers, who falls to the ground.

DDM has asked Asake’s management for a comment but they have not responded.

“Asake keeps disrespecting the Christian faith in his music videos,” wrote one user on X.

In the video, the dancers sing Only Me’s refrain, repeating “we get money” over and over again.

While the lyrics appear to be about someone who only wants to live for themselves, the video could be seen as a satire about charismatic preachers.

“Asake is mocking Christians with his blasphemous music video,” another user wrote on X.

This is not the first time the Grammy-nominated musician has been criticised for his use of Christian imagery in his music videos.

Last year, Asake came under fire for the video for Bandana, his collaboration with Fireboy DML, which depicted black goats sitting in a church.

Around him people can be seen in the pews, each with a flame above their heads.

The perceived “offensive” regalia

There have been calls from Asake fans for him to take down the video.

“Shame on you man. I’m a big fan of your music but the depictions in this your latest video are absolutely insane” one fan wrote.

“Please bring down this video. This is an insult to our Christian faith. Do your music but respect people’s religions” wrote another on Instagram.

Ahmed Ololade, born 13 January 1995, known professionally as Asake, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter.

He is signed to YBNL Nation and Empire Distribution.

His stage name Asake is his mother’s name.

In September 2022, his debut album Mr. Money with the Vibe was released, breaking the record for the biggest opening day for an African album on Apple Music at the time.

The album debuted at number 66 on the Billboard 200 chart and recorded the highest charting Nigerian debut album in the history of the chart.

His sophomore album Work of Art was released in June 2023, becoming his second album to debut at number 66 on the Billboard 200.

In 2020, Asake won Break Out Artist of the Year at the 2022 All Africa Music Awards, and was nominated as the Best African Music Act at the 2022 MOBO Awards, which marked his first international award nomination.

In addition to that, he received Best New International Act nomination at the 2023 BET Awards, the same year he was listed number 5 on the Rolling Stone Music’s Future 25.

In November 2023, Asake received his first nomination at the 66th Annual Grammy Award for “Amapiano” featuring Olamide.

In January 2024, Asake was nominated for the 55th NAACP Awards for his song “Amapiano”.

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