Suspected Brixton crowd crush marks dark chapter for rising Afrobeats star Asake

A suspected crowd crush during a performance by Asake comes two weeks after the Nigerian Afrobeats singer-songwriter featured in a BBC list of up-and-coming music stars.

The incident at the O2 Academy Brixton, which left eight people in hospital, marked a sad chapter in the rising career of one of 2022’s breakout talents.

It comes after 27-year-old Asake, whose real name is Ahmed Ololade, was nominated for BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2023 award recognising artists breaking through in the UK.

He was part of the 10-strong longlist chosen by a panel of more than 130 industry experts and artists, including Sir Elton John, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith and Celeste, after building a committed UK listenership.

The Lagos-based singer, who now has 3.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, had spent years as part of Nigeria’s underground Afrobeat’s scene before collaborating with Grammy-award winning artist Burna Boy on track Sungba this year.

His debut album Mr Money With The Vibe emerged at number 22 in the official UK charts after its release in September and was met with widespread critical and commercial success.

In a previous interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Asake said: “There is something you need to know about me: Everything is like a dream to me, something I’ve imagined before, so I am not amazed by anything that comes or any level that I am. I just give thanks.”

As one of this year’s breakout stars, Asake has made a name for his distinctive live shows, having brought a goat on-stage during a US show and reportedly handing out cash to fans in Birmingham after arriving late to the performance.

Ahead of the Brixton concert on Thursday, Asake, who performs in two of Nigeria’s most popular languages, Yoruba and Pidgin, had posted on Twitter asking fans not to come to the venue unless they had a valid ticket.

The performance was the third of three sold-out dates at the 4,921-standing capacity venue and concluded a run of UK dates.