Why I rate Fireboy above Rema, Joeboy – Cobhams Asuquo

Why I rate Fireboy above Rema, Joeboy – Cobhams Asuquo

Saturday, February 8, 2020 10:49 pm


Cobhams Asuquo

By Nehru Odeh

Though born visually impaired, Nigerian popular music producer, artiste and song writer, Cobhams Asuquo, has a kind of rare vision that only geniuses have. Not only has he, in spite of his visual impairment, produced great artistes such as Asa, Banky W. and Omawum,  Dare Art Alade and Timi Dakolo, he has produced hit songs such as  Star Wonder, Ordinary people and One hit. In 2005 he was signed on to Sony ATV London as a songwriter. However since then Asuquo has gone on to stamp his authority on the Nigerian music scene.

On Friday, 7 February, 2020, Asuquo fielded questions from some presenters on national television. He was asked to choose his favorite among three Nigerian artistes who are currently the raves of the moment. The artistes  are:  Adedamola Adefolaha,  aka  Fireboy DML; Divine Ikuboe, aka  Rema; and Akinfewa-Donus Joseph, aka Joeboy.  The three artistes who burst onto the music scene in 2019 are currently releasing hits upon hits.  Though Cobhams said he liked the three of them, he picked out Fireboy DML as an artiste  that is special to him.

“Fireboy is hot right now. Fireboy is the truth.  Fireboy is special to me. He has a body of work that I feel like he makes the effort to make every song a potential hit song.  He is a good song writer. He is a true artiste.  He is a great singer.  He is a consummate musician.   I think I like them all but Fireboy is special to me, in my own opinion, in my own personal like. Like what you like. But I like Fireboy,” Cobhams said.

In 2019, he released One Hit, a hit song which resonates with many Nigerians because of its underlying message. However, the presenters asked him what inspired that song , given the fact  that he had already been a big name on the Nigerian music scene before he released that song . In that single Asuquo prays that God should give him just one hit like other successful Nigerian artistes he named one after the other, including Olamide.

“First of all I haven’t blown like Olamide yet. Olamide has blown. I am looking for that kind of ‘blow.’ Secondly, and most importantly, One hit is a song that reflects the wishes and aspiration of the average Nigerian artiste who is struggling to make it. It may not always be me.  I was there at some point in time in my life and on some level, and it is probably still there, There are certain things that I wish for. If you look at some of the biggest artistes, from Wizkid to Davido,   as big and as successful as these guys are, and I love them so much. They are not Drake. You know what I mean.  That is not to say that they don’t have talent. But there is always room to do better. There is always room to be better. And for me that’s what I want for myself.

“And more importantly, that is what I want for the average Nigerian artiste who is out there. And not just the artiste,  people who are doing  their own things, just their hustling,  working hard. You know the average Nigerian who just hopes that one day from their hard work they can do more than just have barely enough. And for me let’s have conversations that actually affect where we are in life and things that can cause us to aspire. I think it is bigger than me wanting to blow more than Olamide or blow like Olamide or whatever. It is a message,” he maintained.


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