One man watched Asake close his London show with “Gratitude” and simply burst into tears, caught on camera by someone a few seats away.
That clip spread fast the next morning, and it summed up the mood of a night that had 20,000 people on their feet at the O2 Arena.
The October 15 concert was Asake’s third sold-out show at the venue. It was part of his In God We Trust World Tour, which had already worked its way through North America before landing in London.
The buzz from the American dates had London primed before the doors even opened. Fans who couldn’t get in followed along online, and social media filled up with clips from inside the room.
The setlist leaned hard on crowd favourites. One attendee, posting as @seyedele, said he was locked in to “Terminator,” “Joha,” “Palazzo” and “Why Love” when things took a turn.
That turn was Blaqbonez rising up through the stage floor, shouting “Ikebe wanyo wanyo.” The same fan shared his wife’s Yoruba double take: “Ta leleyi? Bobo yi ni won pe ni Black Bone abi?” She was asking if this was the guy people call Black Bone.
The pair performed “Channel” together, and creators Rybeena and TML Vibes were spotted in the crowd singing every word. Ghanaian actress Efia Odo got a moment of her own when Asake lifted her up during “Skilful.”
The bigger conversation online was about where Asake now sits. Asake is getting to that Michael Jackson level,” wrote @iamjuspat, joking that fans might start fainting at his shows the way they did for MJ back in 1988.
Others went further still. “People will be born into his glory, and people will die in his glory,” posted @seyedele. “He has transcended normal musician status. He’s something else. He’ll be famous forever.”
That is the language of a fanbase at full volume, and the Jackson comparison will sound premature to plenty of listeners. But three sellouts in one of London’s biggest rooms is a hard number to argue with.
Asake came up through Olamide’s YBNL label, and his debut album Mr. Money With the Vibe arrived in 2022.
Work of Art followed in 2023 and Lungu Boy in 2024, and his on-stage dance moves have become a reliable source of viral clips.
London got that too. According to fan account @AsakyGRN, he pulled out his trending dance for the UK crowd and even added a slight update to it.
“Ototo” drew one of the loudest reactions of the night, and one woman’s face when Asake came close enough for her to touch him is still making the rounds.
Another fan simply posted footage of the singer beaming on stage, writing “see as Asake de shine among everybody.”
Gratitude” is the song people keep naming as the peak, with @iamjuspat calling it his “song of the year.” The In God We Trust tour is still on the road, and the next city now has a London crowd’s worth of clips to measure itself against.
