Nigerian Afrobeats star Wande Coal returns with his first single of
2021, an earworm called “Come My Way.” Hit play, and let’s
talk.
Co-produced by Bruno
and Screwface, the song leaves a nice wide open lane right in the
middle for Coal’s powerful voice to do its thing. He’s been at
this a long time—given the general youth of the Afrobeats scene,
Coal’s been delivering hits since many of his peers were
starting middle school—and “Come My Way” has that hard-earned
feeling of an artist who’s fully in the zone. Though the song feels
effortless, Coal is just singing his heart out on it. From the
opening melismas to the airy falsettos on the outro, it feels like no phrase is
repeated without embellishment or development. You can understand why
DJ Tunez, who produced Coal’s 2017 banger “Iskaba,” told The
Fader, “Wande
is Africa's number one vocalist...talent-wise, he’s that
guy.”
No word on whether this single portends a full Wande Coal album or EP, but we do know he’ll be making a rare North American appearance at Afro Nation 2022, as if you needed further incentive to go.
