YKB, whose real name is Yusuf Oluwo Gbolaga, first entered public cognizance with the release of the slow-burning Swaggu in 2019, under the moniker Yusufkanbai (one Yusuf like that). A series of co-signs followed which promised to accelerate his budding career: he came under Mr. Eazi’s wing as one of the beneficiaries of emPawa Africa’s accelerator program in 2020, featured prominently on Ejoya’s class of ’20 compilation album, and then snapped up a verse from top Street Pop rapper Zlatan for Dey Your Dey in 2021. While each of these has been a launchpad to artist careers in the past, for YKB they have been steps on the slow climb to success.
Yet the arrow points upwards for him, and the singer knows it is now only a matter of time and consistency. He put out Before I Blow in 2021, an EP powered by a combination of confidence and prescience that urged listeners to wake up and get in his corner and not wait for his inevitable blow-up. This allusion to his own profitable future may come off as boastful, but he backs it up in the quality of music he makes. His audience base may be, for the time being, a much smaller circle than he would love, but every single member has had an amazing time in the last few years. Yusful Music Reloaded, his newest offering, is a compilation of his biggest and brightest work of the last two years, in the hope that a bigger marketing plot this time can give it the attention it deserves. The 8-track offering contains six songs that were already in public domain.
Being on the cusp of something palpably great but yet out of its reach has left him feeling somewhat frustrated, and the pressures of his life finds a way to permeate into what should be a love-strung project. On Traffic, a narration to a lover giving reasons why he would not be home on time, he closes by listing out the most important goals of his singing career: “Nothing I want more than to feed all my family/ Nothing I want more than to make sure my people good.” It is not an uncommon drive for Nigerians taking up music as a profession—probably a lot more common than an appreciation for the art itself—yet YKB’s display on Yusful Music must be proof that even the non-artistic motivation can give excellent artistic results.
He situates his album in a space where Nigerian Pop flourishes, where lust and worship of the female form is coated with a film of love—an easy field to gain acceptance, but difficult to truly shine. Yet he does not make any drastic effort to stand out; simply performing at a high level is enough. On album opener Shaye, he features rising producer-turned-artist Pheelz on a production consisting of spunky Amapiano log drums, posing pertinent questions about the purpose of life. “Kila waye wa shey o, ti o ban shaye, i ti o ban shomo,” he asks, pointing out that there is no purpose to life other than enjoying every bit of its pleasures. It is a significant detail to note that this song, now the opener, did not appear on the original version of Yusful Music—highlighting an improvement in his fortunes in the eight months that separated both projects. The original’s opener, Pressure, in which he outlined his reasons for working so hard—like a mother without a source of income or pension—now takes a back seat as the closer of this new project.
Between these two touch points that zoom out to portray Yusuf as a young man navigating financial freedom for his family in an economically unstable Nigeria—a trope many of his compatriots will relate to—the bulk of the EP has YKB the superstar bargaining for a woman’s love. On San Siro (Remix) he dips into hyperbole, singing of a love great enough to fill up the legendary Italian stadium, but the way he laces some of the song’s heart-stringing lines—“I knew that I will participate in any competition/ If the prize was you”—might convince you that he was speaking in literal terms. Joeboy slips in on the second verse, a smart addition for stylistic purposes that also works well within the song’s context. He dips from the same well for This Must Be Love, this time accompanied by Ghana’s King Promise, and once more he features a slightly heavy arrangement of drums—not quite the feisty Amapiano affair but a cut above conventional Afropop. The other relatively popular single that makes an appearance here, bo card, swirls similar elements into a slower mix, as YKB outlines to a woman why they would be a perfect fit.
Yusful Music Reloaded is YKB’s claim to a top spot in the music hierarchy. He names it after himself to show the struggling young man behind the music, and on the project he easily balances this arc with the overarching theme of lust-laced Pop that is its staple. It may be filled with old compositions from YKB, but what he hopes to achieve this time is project them to a much larger audience. In an industry already packed with honeyed vocalists and their romantic affinities, this album stands out by showcasing the brilliant vocalist and songwriter that YKB is.