Audiogram · 2020Warlords
OlamideVerse — Era 04Fan archive · Not affiliated with YBNL
Singles over albumsEditorial DossierROUTE · BARIGA → MAINLAND → WORLD
Reinvention
Two years of loose singles and sonic experiments — then a surprise EP, an international distribution deal, and an album built for a wider stage.
2018 — 2020
YBNL MaFia Family · Dec 2018 · 999 · Feb 2020 · YBNL × Empire deal · Feb 2020 · Carpe Diem · Oct 2020
The context
A quieter stretch, on purpose
After four straight years of album-a-year output, the pace changed. Through 2018 and 2019, Olamide released loose singles and freestyles rather than another solo project — testing sounds rather than defending a streak. The one full-length in that stretch wasn't his: YBNL MaFia Family, a label group album released 14 December 2018, with the boss appearing as a guest on his own imprint's record. Then, on 10 February 2020, he dropped the EP 999 with almost no notice.
Eight days later came the bigger news: YBNL Nation signed a joint-venture distribution deal with Empire, opening the label — and its roster, including a young Fireboy DML — to international reach for the first time.
That October, Carpe Diem arrived as the first fruit of the deal: his first widely internationally distributed album, pairing new names — Omah Lay, Fireboy DML, Peruzzi, Bella Shmurda — with the old guard, Phyno.
Photo: Jamie Tubers, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)The albums of the era
An empire doesn't stall — it just changes direction.
The moments
Four beats,
three years
2018–19
Singles & freestyles
No solo album — just loose releases testing new sounds between the Street King Run and what came next.
14 Dec 2018
YBNL MaFia Family
The label's only group album — a bench introduction for the October 2018 signings. Fireboy DML's "Jealous" is buried on it.
10 Feb 2020
999 drops without warning
A surprise EP release, no rollout — a small signal of the reinvention underway.
18 Feb 2020
YBNL × Empire
A joint-venture distribution deal opens the label internationally — Fireboy DML among the first to benefit.
8 Oct 2020
Carpe Diem
His eighth studio album, and his first widely distributed release outside Nigeria.
Share a snippet
Bars from this era
Audiogram · 2020Infinity
“Melody-first, unhurried — built for a streaming era the Street King albums never had to court.”
The song that made the reinvention undeniable, and one of the catalog's most-streamed chapters.
Audiogram · 2020Plenty
“Label boss and label star on the same closer — YBNL's second generation in the frame.”
Fireboy DML on Carpe Diem's landing — Empire-era reach with the founder's name still on the spine.
From the media archive
Watch this era
- Infinity (ft. Omah Lay)music video · 2020
- Bunda (Spinall ft. Olamide & Kemuel)music video · 2020
- Totori (ft. Wizkid & Id Cabasa)music video · 2020
- Wonmamusic video · 2019
- Augment (Phyno ft. Olamide)music video · 2018
- Hate Me (ft. Wande Coal)music video · 2018
- Kana (ft. Wizkid)music video · 2018
- Motigbanamusic video · 2018
- Onyeoma (Phyno ft. Olamide)music video · 2018
- Summer Body (ft. Davido)music video · 2018
Keep following the fabric
Around Reinvention
Jump from this chapter into the people, places, and shareable bars that sit beside it.
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Era 05 · Live nowThe label-boss eraTalk about it
Reinvention
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