Asake has skipped the crowded streets and dance crews for his latest video. The new visual for “Oba,” pulled from his M$NEY album, drops viewers into a dim, late-night recording session where the only choreography is a bass player locking into a groove and engineers riding the faders.
Directed by Director Buise, the clip opens on that bassist before panning across to Asake in the vocal booth.
He’s dressed in a green tracksuit over a white tank top, stacked with thick gold chains, rings and sunglasses, recording his lines while producers, engineers and backing vocalists work around him.
It’s a clear swerve from the high-energy street setups that usually define Afrobeats visuals. Instead of a cinematic storyline, the video cuts between performance shots and the real mechanics of making a record, with mixing boards being tweaked, singers harmonising at the mic and producers triggering beats in real time.
That fly-on-the-wall approach fits the track itself. “Oba” was produced by Magicsticks, the long-time collaborator behind much of Asake’s sound, and it pairs his trademark log-drum bounce with choir-backed harmonies that feel made to be watched coming together live.
The title translates to King in Yoruba, and the song leans hard into that royal framing. Asake wears his “Mister Money” persona with ease here, mixing Yoruba cultural references with reflections on a work ethic that hasn’t let up.
There’s a tension in the lyrics that makes it more than a victory lap. On one side, he’s flexing about his dominant spot in the industry.
On the other, he’s offering street wisdom and gratitude, telling listeners to stay vigilant and humble even as international success keeps arriving.
The studio setting arguably serves that second side better than a glossy production would. Showing the people around the booth, the players, singers and engineers, quietly undercuts the solo king image and puts the craft at the centre.
Promo shots shared on his Mr Money Instagram tell a slightly different story. There, Asake is styled in a textured jacket with luxury travel accessories, the polished high-steeze look fans know, which suggests the M$NEY era is happy to play both registers at once.
That balance has long been part of the YBNL star’s appeal. He’s built his run on records that sound expensive but stay rooted in Yoruba language and street sensibility, and “Oba” sits right in that lane.
The visual also keeps up the steady stream of content around M$NEY, with Asake clearly in no mood to slow down.
Fans now get to watch the hit being built piece by piece, and the real question is which track from the album gets the next treatment.
