Son of Chike

Chike understands what makes people tick. Since rising to fame in 2016, Chike Osebuka has thrived at peering just beneath the surface to understand and contextualise the minutiae of human emotions. His deeply resonant 2020 debut album, Boo of the Booless, was an extended gaze at the dynamics of love that emerged as an accompaniment to the lonesome effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, while establishing the former reality music TV show singer as a rising force in Afropop. The arrival of 2022’s The Brother’s Keeper hinted at a preening edge in his music, as he oscillated between the self-confident and reflective. On his third album, 2024’s Son of Chike, that evolution finds broader expression in the singer’s use of identity and buoyant self-interrogation to make sense of a rapidly changing world and his place in it. At several turns on the album, Chike pays homage to his roots, reaffirms his identity as his father’s son, asks questions of love and skilfully experiments with the iconic highlife of his eastern Nigerian heritage. Not one to restrict himself, Chike pulls from a wide palette to complement his silky R&B sound. Rapper LADIPOE affirms a decision to always lead with love on the soulful opener, “Unto You”, and the late star MohBad adds verve to the delightfully sunny chart-topper “Egwu”. Meanwhile, “One Day” recruits street-pop giant Olamide and rising act Amaeya for a rousing ode to perseverance. Through it all, Chike maintains the keen sense of observation that first made him a voice to seek out: “Someone” recognises and accepts the anguish of unrequited love, while “Balance Am” makes the case for righting wrongs and seeking redemption.