On 2024’s OFA (Oxlade From Africa), Afro-fusion singer-songwriter Oxlade smoothly situates himself in geographic, temporal and sonic terms. “OFA is a combination of vintage, classical African music and modern day Afrobeats,” Oxlade tells Apple Music. “It’s a body of work that travels through time and rhythm. You’re going to be hearing some elements that we grew up listening to and the current sounds of our time.” Bridging generations through collaborations with Bobi Wine, Fally Ipupa, Flavour, Wande Coal and Sarkodie, the artist born Ikuforiji Olaitan Abdulrahman pairs their pioneering spirit with a willfulness of his own. “I felt like it was time for me to make my own impact,” Oxlade says. “I’m continuing the legacy the legends that came before me started.” As hypnotic falsetto inflections yoke eras together, the conceptual underpinnings of OFA reveal a greater pursuit. “‘Offa’ means arrow in Yoruba,” Oxlade shares. “Like the great Fela used to say, music is the weapon to heal humanity from itself. This is me literally [offering that].” Here, he talks us through OFA (Oxlade From Africa), track by track.
“INTERLUDE” (feat. Bobi Wine)
“I feel like the fame and platform that God gave me shouldn’t be used for just music and entertainment, and that’s why I decided to speak up during the #EndSARS era. Having Bobi Wine on this is also like nostalgia. The name of this interlude is ‘D PTSD’—democratic PTSD. It’s me reminding the African youth that the power is still in our hands, and we shouldn’t forget what we’re fighting for, which is good governance.”
“OLAITAN (OLAOLUWA)”
“Olaitan is my actual name, and this is me singing about my story. [We] Africans always have really deep names and I feel like my name is a representation of who I am. It means unending favour, unending wealth and unending grace from God.”
“BLESSED” (with Popcaan)
“I feel like this album can pass for a gospel album because of the amount of positivity and prophetic statements it entails. Popcaan told me one of the reasons he jumped on the song is because they don’t expect people our age to make songs this positive anymore. The world is saturated with flexing about money, violence and vanity; not even remembering the positive side. That’s what ‘BLESSED’ does—everybody can listen to this song, boost their self-esteem and remind themselves what God has done in their lives.”
“INTOXYCATED” (with Dave)
“This is a story from my experiences, converted to music. It’s a narrative song that speaks about the everyday heartbreak situations we find ourselves in. Me saying I feel like love is overrated was coming from a place of anger and rage, basically. If I wanted anybody else on the record it had to be Dave because he’s one of the greatest storytellers of our time.”
“IFA” (with Fally Ipupa)
“This song is a testament to my stubbornness and my strong will. It’s a dream come true for me to have this kind of song in my catalogue! Fally happens to be a very good human, and not just a great artist.”
“KU LO SA”
“Life-changing, chart-breaking! ‘KU LO SA’ opened the door for me to have untapped and limitless love from new markets, regions and audiences. This song literally gave me the purpose for this album. I started naming songs in an African way because of ‘KU LO SA’. English is our borrowed language, so I tried to make sure to manipulate as many names that I could on the album.”
“OVAMI” (feat. Flavour)
“The reason why ‘OVAMI’ is even a record is because of Flavour. I felt like I already did everything according to what my knowledge could carry. I needed that authenticity and someone from that world itself to help me elevate the song. It’s like you adding the final ingredient to your soup: Flavour was the X factor on this record.”
“ARABAMBI”
“‘ARABAMBI’ means the chosen one and the community’s child. Every king needs a queen and this is me just serenading the deserved queen. Behind every man there’s always a woman helping you balance your life up, and this is a song for those kind of women.”
“TAMUNO INTERLUDE”
“This is spiritual chanting in Okrika from the Ijaw tribe. It’s like an awakening and then just exalting God’s presence in my life.”
“ASUNASA (HOLD YOUR WAIST)” (feat. Wande Coal)
“Wande happens to be my ‘music dad’, and him being on my debut album was a no-brainer for me. I’m grateful to be able to even put this type of song out. Getting to watch him make music was so surreal to me! I’ll always get starstruck when I see Wande because of the impact he’s had on Afrobeats generally. It’s a testament to how far I’ve come—from being a fanboy to colleagues with one of the greatest to ever do it.”
“PIANO”
“‘PIANO’ is a testament to the type of music I envision Africa listening to in the next 10, 20, 30 years. This is me infusing jazz and Afrobeats. I started this trend with a song called ‘Shugar’, which happened to be my first ever record out. It’s the fast-paced side of Oxlade; the party side. I’m mostly known for the midtempo, slow-whine type of music, so this song just shows a dexterity I feel the world deserves to hear.”
“OLOLUFE” (feat. Sarkodie)
“I feel like me and Sarkodie have been on this run for a while now. Sark is very integral to my trajectory in Ghana and Africa in general. It’s a dream come true having one of the illest rappers to grace the stage of African hip-hop on my debut album. A good run deserves another!”
“RMF”
“This source of inspiration is Afrobeat, without the ‘s’—you can hear the Fela bop, horns and saxophones going crazy on this record. This is an example of me mixing classical African music with our modern-day Afrobeats. It also has segments where I show my lyrical prowess ’cause I started off as a rapper. ‘RMF’ is also prophetic—it’s where I envision myself. Everybody wants to be rich, and I’m all about that life.”
“ON MY MIND (OMM)” (feat. Tomi Owó and Ojahbee)
“‘ON MY MIND’ happens to be inspired by South African house music. It’s a groovy, house-inspired Afrobeats record. I had to represent because this is an African album and I had to show the different ways African music sounds.”
“KATIGORI”
“This is an emphatic statement to the doubters! I feel like the power of the tongue is very underrated—what you prophesy and what you speak into existence shapes who you really are. Why be in the queue of the top three when you can be in your own lane? I’m trying to exempt myself from any group. I shouldn’t be boxed and put on any list because nobody does it like me and I can’t do it like anybody else either. ‘KATIGORI’ is me letting you know that Oxlade is one of one. It’s me prophesying that, if not now, one day, people will realise how special and different I am.”
“OFA”
“In this life, we’re all fighting a battle [that’s] either spiritual, physical or mental. We’re all trying to win and prevail, so it’s me saying prophetic words to the people that haven’t seen the light yet. It’s me exalting myself and what God is doing in my life.
