Review: Korede Bello’s “Koreday” is a Different Sound

At the time of Koreday’s release, Minding My Business featuring Don Jazzy was already out and making waves in the public. “I no dey follow you race, I dey my own dey,” goes a line in the track, subtly addressing comparisons to contemporaries like Kizz Daniel and Adekunle Gold. But when Korede Bello released the album on March 22, the message Koreday conveyed was more about the artist himself. The album’s name hints at its underlying purpose, one that may go unnoticed without taking a moment to ponder its deeper meaning. Fortunately, the opening track, Happy Birthday to Me, presents a redeeming opportunity. An interlude graced with Korede Bello’s velvet vocals, this track tenderly echoes the nostalgic charm of his “Mr. Romantic” days. However, make no mistake — Korede Bello has undergone a transformative evolution since the release of Romantic eight years ago. Yet, despite this artistic maturation, he remains delightfully imbued with the qualities of a passionate lover boy that first endeared him to audiences worldwide.

Koreday is a musical gift that Korede Bello has bestowed upon himself and his fans, an album brimming with love, loss, gratitude, and captivating interludes that skillfully guide listeners along the artist’s intended path. Commemorating his birthday — a cherished Kore’s Day that graces us once every four years — this opus symbolizes growth and is a resounding testament to Bello’s significance as both an artist and an individual. Throughout the album, he demonstrates unwavering control, selectively revealing only what he knows his devoted audience yearns to experience.

The sophomore album, Koreday, arrives as a poignant successor to his debut offering, Belloved, released in 2017, and the E.P., Beauty & Bliss in 2023. In Beauty & Bliss, he showcased his collaborative spirit through captivating tracks like For Me featuring Yemi Alade and Jejely with Mr. Eazi. Bello’s signature style is defined by his sweet vocals, enveloped in a tapestry of percussive instrumentation. In the EP’s standout track, Complete, he reaffirms his “Mr. Romantic” persona with stirring vocals, melodies, and lyrics that could ignite envy in any woman not the recipient of such ardent affection. But those are his more recent projects, where his fresh, innovative sound was already taking shape, gradually and subtly evolving.

His viral single, Godwin, in 2015 is a powerful anthem of gratitude, encouraging listeners to thank God regardless of life’s circumstances. The song struck a chord with Nigerians, becoming one of Korede Bello’s biggest career hits. The single’s cover art depicts a youthful Korede, posed in a style reminiscent of the 2010s era, with a tacky font bearing witness to the shrill, youthful exuberance of his vocals. Korede Bello’s bouncy, young spirit resurfaces in the 2016 release Mungo Park, a collaboration with Don Jazzy that playfully chronicles a woman’s inability to settle on a partner. Yet, that year proved to be a prolific one for the artist, as he had additional hits like Do Like That, a track that amassed more than 80 million streams on Spotify. It was also in 2016 that Korede Bello cemented his “Mr. Romantic” moniker, courtesy of the enchanting duet Romantic with Tiwa Savage. By 2020, his musical evolution was starting to become evident through releases like Mi Casa Su Casa and Sun Momi, where his sound shed its youthfulness and embraced a newfound maturity. Throughout his discography leading up to Koreday, one constant remains — he’s a lover boy. 

In Koreday, after two tranquil interludes, extending warm birthday wishes, he transitions into Cover Me, a profound track that encapsulates his vulnerability, as he sings about God’s unwavering protection despite his imperfections. Cover Me evokes echoes of the familiar melodies of his older hit, Godwin. Adhering to a rhythmic pattern, a heartbreak interlude precedes Dracula, a ballad that narrates the tale of Bolanle, the metaphorical female vampire who shattered his heart. 

This sentiment embedded in Minding My Business reverberates in the interlude, How Does That Make You Feel. Korede Bello confronts the online trolls head-on with the subsequent track, Moving Mad, where the artist professes his indifference towards conversations that fail to contribute to his financial well-being, declaring, “If it’s not making money, then it’s not for me.” The artist has long since shed the pressures attached to being a singer, paying no attention to non-bellovers oblivious to the depth of his discography beyond the 2015 hit single, Godwin. As such, he minds the business of his craft and the business of nurturing the bond with his fans (Bellovers). The final trio of tracks — My Bed, Tomorrow, and Little Child — share a common slumber theme, seemingly an intentional choice to signal the impending conclusion of this 26-track odyssey.

Evidently, Korede Bello is on his own race and pace, as he has mentioned. His mastery of channeling intricate thoughts artistically is something newfound, a skill that wasn’t as pronounced in the past. It’s as though he has arrived as a messiah to revitalize the Afrobeats scene, which wouldn’t be an exaggeration, as his cover art portrays a Jesus-like figure, complete with a halo and heavenly staff. It’s not unreasonable to speculate that perhaps, in the near future, we might witness another smash hit as monumental as Godwin — one that transcends class boundaries, a timeless anthem for both the young and the old.