Some of Nigeria and Ghana’s biggest stars teamed up on “Shuga,” a song that was apparently somehow passed over for the theme to the HIV-stigma-breaking TV series Shuga. The fluttering synths of the beat, produced by Chopstix, sound rather uncannily like those of the Flaming Lips’ “Be Free, A Way,” though something tells us that the resemblance is not intended. Regardless, they provide a great backdrop for the autotuned opening (“I’m a casanova, just trying to get some shuga”). Nigeria’s Burna Boy, Endia, Yung L and Eva Alordiah, along with Sarkodie from Ghana, are all in uniformly excellent form, rhyming with precision about the nightlife of modern West Africa and its sometimes grim consequences (“Only 17, on a path that she never chose”). Listen below:
A track from Flavour, Kcee, Chindinma, Sound Sultan and Professor with a more upbeat pop sound won out over the newly released “Shuga.” You can watch the video for that one below, and judge for yourself which should have made the cut.