Asake — Tiny Desk Concert, 2025

Published on October 24, 2025, this live session marks the Tiny Desk debut of Asake, one of the leading figures of Nigerian afrobeats. Filmed at Bob Boilen’s desk in NPR’s Washington studios, it follows the series’ principle: an intimate live performance, played largely acoustically in a cramped record-lined space, far from the large stages the artist usually commands. Breaking through in 2022 with the album Mr. Money With The Vibe, Ahmed Ololade built a hybrid sound blending amapiano, fuji, Yoruba chanting and urban pop. For this appearance he is surrounded by a full band — bass, keys, guitar, drums, saxophone, violin, percussion and backing vocals — that reproduces the rhythmic richness of his productions live. The live session unfolds as a medley, running through “WHY LOVE,” “Amapiano,” “Awodi,” “Remember,” “Lonely at the Top,” “Ototo,” “MMS,” “Organise” and “Fuji Vibe.” This 2025 NPR live session confirms Asake’s place in the afrobeats wave that has taken hold internationally, and shows how his tracks hold up outside the studio, carried by an organic rhythm section.