Boj, real name Bolaji Odojukan and Ajebutter22, Akitoye Balogun are two artists whose journeys in music in the last ten years have paralleled each other. With the rise of Alté, Nigerian Pop’s eccentric cousin which they helped pioneer, the two possess a musical relationship that is about as close to the ideal partnership as you get. They share a discography—with the Make E No Cause Fight 1 and 2 EPs, the summit of this arrangement—while maintaining two separate careers that thrive independently of each other. These careers have spurned three albums apiece for the singers (four for Boj if you count his Pioneers LP, co-helmed with Teezee and Fresh L, the other members of DRB Lasgidi). As artists, Ajebutter22 is the more rap-leaning creator, relying on subtle word play and rhyme while ignoring the quickness of flow that most rappers also possess. Boj is more likely to be considered a singer, blessed with an euphonious set of vocals that you often find in the hooks rather than verses of their collaborations. But these nuances are only broad generalizations, in reality, neither artist has any problem stepping out of his comfort zone to possess the other’s. It is part of what makes their partnership so potent—two complete artists that still find ways to complement each other when they duet.
The first mainstream fruit of this cross-pollination is now a decade old. When Omo Pastor released in July 2012, it was one of the first songs shared by a group of young, unconventional creators that are now recognised under the umbrella of Alté. Since then, the pair has stamped their identities across genres and eras, bringing a sense of continuity to Nigeria’s fast shifting timeline. Ahead of Make E No Cause Fight 3, which will arrive on November 15 to complete the trilogy of EPs, here are five songs from Ajebutter22 and Boj that show why they are widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s finest musical duos.
Omo Pastor
There would be no better way to kick off this selection than the musical origins of Boj and Ajebutter22’s connection. Omo Pastor told the story of the stereotypical Pastor’s child, whose repressed autonomy as a child manifested in intense ways with the taste of freedom that adulthood provided. It is a common Nigerian trope, the pipeline from pious child to deviant adult, and the people who parrot it can hardly provide evidence of its prevalence. Yet Boj and Ajebutter22 are able to script an original story around this generalization, about a woman whose outward churchy demeanor only served as a mask for a risqué side that rivaled even their own.
Ajebutter22 begins by painting contrasts in her in- and off-church personalities. “O ti se good girl omo pastor/ O ku die iwo na lo ma bad gan”, he sings before naming a specific instance involving her drinking: “O mu Baileys, ati Vodka/ But ninu church o ma ma gbadura”. It is very difficult to overstate just how pivotal Omo Pastor was to the burgeoning careers of its creators as well as the budding collective they were a part of—Alté. It was released on Soundcloud, the choice platform for emerging unconventional creatives, at least at the time. When both artists released their debut albums two years after, signaling their individual entries into the mainstream, both projects featured Omo Pastor.
What U Want
In 2014, the self-styled MC with an MSc, Naeto C, was in the creative process for his next album, Festival, one that hardly anyone suspected would be his last. For the track, What U Want, he recruited both members of our duo, leaving them to stamp their mark on the song in their characteristic style before inserting himself in verses. They tag team on the chorus—Boj throwing up the question of “Tell me what you want, what you really want/ what do you want from me”, before Ajebutter22 replies with “Ten bottles of Rosé, pelu Sepe and Alomo/ Ten shots of Bacardi , Don Simon, or Paraga”.
For his part Naeto C is every bit the rap maestro that won the Headies’ artist and album of the year two years prior. He appears in his laid-back suaveness, rapping about his unique crowns (rolex watches and fast cars) and crosses (whitlow, from counting too much money) in turn, while E Kelly’s production is kept vibrant by colorful keys and loud synths.
24
After Boj and Ajebutter22 decided to coalesce their obvious talent and hand-in-glove chemistry into a project, the result was about on par with expectations—the five-part project, Make E No Cause Fight. 24, its opener, was named in honor of Kiefer Sunderland’s 24, the TV series where his character, Jack Bauer spent the majority of episodes protecting his country as a member of a Counter Terrorism Unit. But this pop culture reference was only a euphemism for the protective cover of God over their lives.
They take turns singing over the lively Spax-produced beat, with Boj on chorus duty while Ajebutter22 supplies the slick wordplay— “Tell them we don’t make up like girls in mountain of fire”, he raps to someone who wants to put an end to a beef. Finally they duet in a call-and-response for the song’s last verse—one of the few times they unlock this facet of their connection, and ending the song in this fashion indelibly inscribed 24 in the mind of every listener as a display of showmanship and chemistry.
Damiloun
Show Dem Camp were another integral part of Nigeria’s unconventional sound market that made Soundcloud its launching pad at the turn of the ’10s. The first two volumes of SDC’s Clone Wars series, not available at conventional streaming platforms, can be obtained on Soundcloud, and they remain there as relics of Alté’s early beginnings. Ghost and Tec, the artists that make up Show Dem Camp, are rappers in a stricter sense than Ajebutter22. They build their albums as displays of collaborative and A&R prowess, recruiting for nearly every track a vocalist to contrast with their gritty deliveries.
In their inaugural Palmwine Music of 2017, they fixed Boj and Ajebutter22 on separate tracks, but by 2018’s Palmwine Music 2, they had realized just how much better the duo work together, having been convinced by the collaborative Make E No Cause Fight that was released in the interval. The quartet combined for Damiloun, making for a large party but not by SDC album standards. Ajebutter22 and Boj share the burden of the chorus, with the latter teeing up the former this time around. Being set in a Palmwine music album meant Damiloun glistened with saxophones and was glazed by an euphonious piano and hand beaten drums, and both duos had no problems gliding on these elements in style. On his verse, Tec sings about how some people were made for each other—directing this line at the girl all four artists take turns wooing—but it can hardly be missed how this is equally descriptive of the chemistry they all share on this track.
Too Many Women
On Make E No Cause Fight 2, the last iteration that debuted in 2019, Boj and Ajebutter22 were not alone. Also along for the ride was Falz, who slipped in effortlessly into the dynamic the artists shared, on this song inserting into the second verse. “She know my many talks, o fe eavesdrop”, Falz speaks about a woman whose interest in him was purely financial, rapping in his signature wit over the unhurried Sarz beat. Boj and Ajebutter22, in turn, delivered their respective sectors, so that the track lived up in every way to its cast list. Even more than this trio of singers, Too Many Women was aided by uncredited ad libs from a certain Tems, who in late 2019 was floating in the Alté space, making her introductions with tracks like Mr. Rebel and Try Me, spreading the gospel of her abilities sharing verses with acts like SDC and Ladipoe and generally being unaware that one of these, for Wizkid’s Essence, would change the course of her career in a year’s time.
With Make E No Cause 3 arriving in a month’s time, it presents an opportunity to add a few classics to the vault of this pair of highly compatible artists “We go together like fish and chips”, Ajebutter22 sings on Too Many Women, another line that carries an unintended double entendre. In anticipation of this release, they have already debuted Rora, their first single off what will be another five track piece. It is their first collaboration in four years and a reminder of just what we have missed in that period, so it is safe to assume that the upcoming album reprises in style the enduring tale of Boj and Ajebutter22’s magical connection.