Fireboy DML Unveils the 13-Track List for ZUKO!, and Nigerians Are Already Reading Meaning Into Every Song Title

The album is coming on Friday, and Nigerian music fans have started the annual tradition of reading a tracklist like a WAEC result.

Fireboy DML has revealed the 13 tracks of his fifth album, ZUKO!, and the first thing we must discuss is the title. According to reports, it is a reference to Prince Zuko from the cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender. Yes. A man called Fireboy has named his album after a famous firebender. This is not a coincidence. This is branding with the confidence of a man who has fully read the room and the matches. A prince, a fire, a redemption story. Even the cartoon knows how to market.

The tracklist begins with “DEAR FATHER”, featuring Judah Earl. Already, half of Nigeria is emotional. Every man who has ever had a complicated relationship with his father has pressed play in his head and is silent. Then comes “BY FIRE!”, which sounds like the type of thing a Pentecostal pastor says before the offering. Then “CLAAT!” with Masicka, the dancehall one. Even the title is a Jamaican expression that makes my aunt think someone is angry at her.

Track 4 is “GODDESS” with Lojay, and every man in Lagos has already taken a screenshot to send to the person he is still talking to. Then “C’EST LA VIE”. Fireboy has gone to French school. Nobody asked, but we are proud of him.

Track 6 is “IMALI”, featuring JAZZWRLD and Thukuthela. This one has a Southern African sound, 3-step and amapiano, and it is already in the Official Nigeria Top 100. That means it has done a lot of work before the album is even out. The man has sent the soldier ahead of the army.

Then it is “ONE MAN REGIMENT”, which is exactly what a man says when he has been supporting five people on one salary. “KILOWI” comes next. Even if I do not know the full story, I know it is the type of song someone will ask for in a bar. Then “ONAZO!”, and the capital letters and exclamation marks are doing a lot. Every exclamation mark in the tracklist is a man saying, “this is a hit, please believe me”.

Track 10 is “S.L.U.T (SEX LOVE UNDERSTANDING TRUST)”. The brackets are clever. It is the only song title in the history of Nigerian music with an explanation in case your mother sees the screen. Then “LIGHT OF DAWN”, “MIMI NAWE”, and the final track, “FIGHTING”. A beautiful way to end an album: all the love, then the fighting. Just like real relationships.

Of course, the comment section is already divided. One side says it is an album of the year. The other side says “wait for the album first.” And as usual, the third side has already made a playlist of five songs and called it a review.

For me, I will wait for Friday. I will press play, close my curtain, and listen to “Dear Father” quietly, and when I come out, I will say the album was “good, but I need to hear it again”, which is the safest music review in Nigeria.