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OlamideVerse — Era 05Fan archive · Not affiliated with YBNL
The label-boss eraEditorial Dossier

Elder Statesman

UY Scuti and Unruly land as Fireboy DML and Asake break wide open — the empire's second generation takes the stage, and the founder becomes the boss standing behind it.

2021 — 2023

UY Scuti · 2021 · Amapiano (Asake ft. Olamide) · 2023 · Unruly · 2023

The context

From frontman to backer

In March 2021, Olamide hinted he was done making albums. Weeks later he announced UY Scuti anyway — named, he said, after his son — released that June. The pattern repeated in 2022, with talk of stepping back following his next milestone.

But retirement talk kept losing to relevance. In May 2023, his guest verse on Asake's "Amapiano" helped carry the sound to a global audience — a reminder that his ear for what's next hadn't dulled. By August 2023, Unruly arrived stacked with the artists he'd raised — Asake, Fireboy DML, Bnxn — and peers beyond the label roster, including CKay and Rema.

This is the era where the founder becomes the elder — less the loudest voice on the record, more the reason the record exists at all.

Archival photo — Elder Statesman, 2021 — 2023Photo: Clara Sanchiz, CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab)

The albums of the era

UY Scuti cover art
2021 · AlbumElder Statesman
Unruly cover art
2023 · AlbumElder Statesman
Elders don't retire the throne — they widen it.

The moments

Four beats,
three years

2021

UY Scuti, named for his son

Announced in April, released in June — a personal title for a career-spanning project.

2022

Retirement talk, again

Hints he might be done following his next milestone — the familiar pattern of stepping-back talk that never quite sticks.

May 2023

"Amapiano" goes global

His feature on Asake's breakout single helps carry the sound to an international audience.

Aug 2023

Unruly

Built around Asake, Fireboy DML and Bnxn — the label boss handing the mic to the next generation.

Share a snippet

Bars from this era

All snippets →
Audiogram · 2021Rock
“Reggae and Afro-pop textures where street-hop density used to live.”

The lead single that announced a shorter, more pop-facing Olamide — still unmistakably Baddo in the pocket.

UY Scuti·Rock
Open
Audiogram · 2023New Religion
“Label boss and breakout star sharing a doctrine — the ear that signed Asake now trading bars with him.”

The preceding single that set Unruly's mood: melodic, international, still street in the pocket.

Unruly·New Religion
Open

From the media archive

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Elder Statesman

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