Fuji
Fuji Album ∙ Afro-Beat ∙ 2025 Adekunle Gold Adekunle Gold’s sixth album may be named after the improvisational Nigerian genre that emerged in the late 1960s, but it’s as much a reflection of Gold’s life as it is a full-throttle embrace of Yoruba oral music culture. “Fújì is just the sound of Lagos,” Gold tells Apple Music. “I grew up on fújì. I guess I should say thank you to my auntie, for constantly playing it when I was a child. It’s at every party, every event, they play it everywhere. It’s ingrained in me.” With just over a decade of stardom under his belt, Lagos’ Adekunle Gold has lived many lives—and written even more hits. Since breaking out in 2014 with “Sade,” Gold has proven adept at pulling distinct strands from eras past to incorporate into his interpretation of Afrobeats. Early releases like “Orente” and “My Life”—propped up by their callbacks to genres such as jùjú and highlife—established Gold as a singer with a griot’s soul and sentimentalities. He’d broaden his reach ...