Is “gege” the biggest adlib out of Nigeria?
Afrobeats is now a global phenomenon that has influenced other cultures and ingested bits of others too and one thing that has really taken root is the stylish improvisation of adlib by our artistes.
zagadat!
yayi!
shekpe!
yaa ga!
oshey!
gege!
These are recognisable adlib that artistes have now infused into their music and the audience has grown to identify and attribute to each artiste. The word adlib comes from the latin word “ad libitum” which translates to “at one’s pleasure” or “as you desire”. In afrobeats, many adlib have come and gone and some have evolved as the pioneering artiste changes his sound and yet some have stayed on and we almost always expect it to feature in new releases.
With the average adlib having a shelf life of eight months to one year (and ever since I started listening to afrobeats), no adlib has had a longer chokehold on the Nigerian music industry like “gege”. Its earliest mention dating back to 2019 when DMW’s Mayorkun dropped “Of Lagos”, and it has gone to feature in over 15 songs since then with content creators on Snapchat, Tik Tok and Instagram lip syncing and making it a filler for their videos.
How has “gege” stayed for so long? Why is it so catchy? It has been almost three years since the adlib came in to the scene and it has shown no sign of leaving. In my opinion, we can chalk it down to its relatability because unlike other adlib that were unique to one artiste, other artistes like Davido, Asake, Phelz and Buju have infused it into their music and it just rolls off the tongue easily. Songs like Champion Sound, Finesse, Omo Ope have the catchy line in their lyrics and to be honest, we love it!
I took out the time to curate a small playlist of songs that have the adlib featured and don’t be surprised that Mayorkun has the most songs with the adlib, I mean he is the pioneering artiste and we have him to thank.
https://music.apple.com/ng/playlist/gege/pl.u-55D6XPlI8Y6rJgD
