The past few years have witnessed a remarkable resurgence of Fuji music within mainstream Nigerian pop culture, driven partly by TikTok’s revival of older records and, more significantly, by a new generation of Afropop artistes who continue to reintroduce the genre through sampling, interpolation, and direct sonic fusion. Adekunle Gold has emerged as one of the most deliberate figures within that movement.
Following the announcement of his sixth studio album, Fuji, conversations quickly emerged among critics, fans, and music enthusiasts over whether Adekunle Gold would fully immerse himself in the genre’s traditional textures: layered percussion, rolling talking drums, call-and-response cadences, and the vibrant rhythmic pulse that defines Fuji music at its core.
He ultimately embraced those elements wholeheartedly, resulting in standout records such as “Many People”, featuring Yinka Ayefele and Adewale Ayuba, “Don Corleone”, and “Big Fish”, where he interpolates Lefty Salami Balogun’s 1970 Sakara classic, “Agunbiade Baba Osha.”
On Fuji Xtra, the deluxe extension of Fuji, Adekunle Gold doubles down on the album’s vibrant sonic identity with even greater exuberance and rhythmic vitality. Ahead of the deluxe release, he unveiled “Formation” featuring Olamide, marking the duo’s first official collaboration. It is an explosive record that sees both artistes go full throttle across a hyperactive, high-BPM instrumental powered by thunderous kicks and pulsating percussion.
Entirely driven by self-indulgent hedonism, the track celebrates stylish women, nightlife energy, dancefloor ecstasy, and lavish enjoyment. “All my ladies formation, if you are sexy, go low, low,” Adekunle Gold sings with infectious charisma, while Olamide injects the track with the ferocious, razor-sharp delivery that once defined much of his early Street Pop dominance.
The deluxe’s introductory track, “Life of the Faaji,” opens with thrilling guitar licks and immediately settles into the heart of Fuji music. Enhanced by Zlatan’s energetic ad-libs, the song radiates celebratory energy from the outset. True to its title, which loosely translates to “life of enjoyment” or “life of the party,” the record captures Adekunle Gold in one of his most exuberant forms as he revels in fame, wealth, influence, and pleasure while encouraging listeners to dance freely, spend extravagantly, and immerse themselves fully in the moment.
On “Shake Shake,” he recruits Tml Vibez for a sensual, body-moving record steeped in playful lust and rhythmic seduction. The hedonism remains fully amplified as Adekunle Gold sings, “You be trouble things go get messy, o sure / Body to body, kiss like a warning,” lines that carry both flirtation and physical urgency. TML Vibez complements the song with his elastic Street Pop cadence, adding a rawness that sharpens the track’s club-ready appeal.
The Kel-P-produced “Blue Fire” shifts the emotional atmosphere of the project into softer territory as Adekunle Gold reunites with his wife and fellow Afropop singer, Simi. Built around groovy percussion, lush saxophone arrangements, and tender melodies, the song finds both artistes singing passionately about the depth and endurance of their love. “My baby ọmọ nla / All of these years you've been riding beside me,” Adekunle Gold sings affectionately.
The title itself functions as a metaphor for an inner spark or consuming passion that keeps one emotionally alive, mirroring the role both lovers occupy in each other’s lives. The result is a deeply affectionate duet from one of Afropop’s most admired couples.
When it comes to navigating different emotional textures to create magnetic records, Adekunle Gold remains remarkably versatile, and he leans fully into introspection on the outro track, “I Got Wiser On My Own”. Across the reflective record, he sings about survival, growth, faith, and the emotional scars that shaped his journey. “Mo dupẹ f'ẹlẹda mi o / You don't have to remind me / Wetin I use my eye see o / Put the trauma behind me / It's a jungle where I'm from,” he sings, reflecting on hardship, trauma, perseverance, and the quiet resilience required to rise beyond difficult beginnings. The song closes the deluxe on a contemplative note, reminding listeners that beneath the flamboyance, pleasure, and celebratory energy that dominate much of Fuji Xtra, there is still an artiste deeply aware of the struggles that shaped him.
Beyond functioning as a routine deluxe release, Fuji Xtra is, at its core, an elevated continuation of the sonic world Adekunle Gold began constructing on his sixth album, Fuji. Rather than merely adding extra tracks to extend the album’s lifespan, the project injects fresh vitality into its core ideas through richer instrumentation, sharper rhythmic textures, and a more adventurous embrace of Fuji music’s spirit.
The production across the deluxe remains remarkably polished, balancing dense percussion, rolling drum patterns, groovy basslines, and vibrant guitar arrangements without ever sounding overcrowded. Some of the project’s strongest moments arrive through its standout records. “Life of the Faaji”, for instance, immediately establishes the project’s energetic pulse with thrilling guitar licks and an exhilarating Fuji cadence, while “Formation”, featuring Olamide, explodes with kinetic energy.
On “Blue Fire”, his collaboration with Simi, the atmosphere softens beautifully into tenderness and emotional intimacy that reveals the emotional flexibility that has continued to define Adekunle Gold’s artistry. Even more impressive is the project’s selection of collaborators, with each featured act fitting naturally into the deluxe's sonic palette without disrupting its cohesion.
More importantly, Fuji Xtra breathes renewed life into the original album by amplifying the very elements that made Fuji compelling in the first place. At a time when younger Afropop artistes continue to revisit indigenous sounds, Adekunle Gold’s deliberate immersion into Fuji music is culturally significant. By modernising its textures without stripping away its essence, Fuji Xtra stands as another strong reminder that Fuji music still possesses the vibrancy, adaptability, and emotional richness to thrive within contemporary Nigerian pop music.
