Rodo – Adekunle Gold (Review)

Adekunle Gold has recently released a new track titled “Rodo”. This song carries a lot of energy, and absolutely the good kind. It is extremely easy to love, and to dance to. I very much hope that this Amapiano, dance-friendly afrobeat type of track will see a big rise in popularity!

The song has sharp vocals cutting through the mix with a pulsating kick, lots of brushing/sweeping sounds, and a very convincing percussive pattern that carries through the entire track. In general, it is pretty uncommon to find songs so heavily carried by drums and percussion. We also hear some sharp and decisive synth stabs that are commonly used in afrobeat and rave music. They complement the cowbell and clacky percussion very well; they sound quite similar, but just different enough to add some flavor to the mix on their own. There is a Moog bass double with synth pad and also some kind of horn in the beginning.

I would say that the Moog bass is the single most important instrument in this kind of Afrobeat or Amapiano song. The bass, engineered by Bob Moog in 1964, is not only important for this genre but for a huge range of songs across different genres. Apart from that, the most important section for driving this song forward is the drums and percussion. I think I could listen for an hour to just a straight loop with the drum parts from “Rodo”. The track was written by Adekunle Gold, Musiliu Haruna Ishola, and Onome Ese Ojoboh. The producer is named Chillz. Chillz is a Nigerian-born artist and has also worked with artists such as Falz, Timaya, and M.I Abaga.

Adekunle Gold, born in Nigeria in 1987, is a well-known Afrobeat, Nigerian R&B, Afropop singer, songwriter, and producer. To be honest, I am not 100% sure how to categorize this track or his catalog. I simply don’t know enough about this music. One does not need to know everything, however, to know that the track is banging. Adekunle Gold has currently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings. If his latest release “Rodo” is any indication as to what he will continue putting out together with Def Jam, I am very excited to see what more they have in store for us.

Author: Peter Källman

Peter Källman is a writer from Sweden who loves playing in bands, writing reviews and going to live shows!