Calling on all the chocolates, caramels and ego oyibos to paint their December dirty by pulling up to Afrovibes Festival, on the 15th of December 2024.

If there鈥檚 something Lagos knows how to do properly, it is party. It doesn鈥檛 matter if it鈥檚 to DJ YK Mule, or vibes and chill music like those by Chik茅 and Mannywellz. This is why we are looking forward to this show, to be headlined by the two latter artists.

If a chill concert that has you screaming the lyrics of 鈥極ulala鈥� back to Mannywellz, or hiding your tears like the hard guy/babe that you are when Chik茅 sings 鈥渟ome people in your life鈥︹�� is something your brain has been eager to do, then all roads lead to Ecobank Pan-African Center, Victoria Island, Lagos for you.

Afrovibes Festival is more than just music; it is a cultural movement. Its goal has always been to pour the world鈥檚 attention on the rich diversity of music, art and creativity that exist on the African continent through properly and intentionally curated events.

Ahead of the December 15th concert, tickets are already fast-selling. This is why you need to get yours now for a chance to spend an evening of your Detty December with Chik茅 and Mannywellz.聽

Hurry to to cop yours and anticipate a night of guaranteed fun, magic and enjoyment.

For more information on Afrovibes Festival, please click .

It started here:

And now we’re here:

Let’s begin.

Fola* and Jane*, Married

Jane: We met when I moved to Lagos in 2006. My family friend was showing me around town. He took me to his office at MTN and, there, introduced me to a lot of people, including Fola.

Fola: We went out for drinks after that introduction 鈥� me, Jane and her friend. Then found out we knew each other as kids.

Jane: We had grown up in the same neighbourhood in Port Harcourt, and we had a few mutual friends and similar childhood experiences.

Fola: A friendship developed between us, but she was involved with someone else, and they were very engaged. I found out four months later when I let her know I was interested. Our friendship had really blossomed, and I was falling in love with her, but she chose to stay with her fianc茅.

Jane: Fortunately or unfortunately, I and my fianc茅 found out our genotype wasn鈥檛 compatible. We were both AS, so we couldn鈥檛 get married. At first, we wanted to gamble it, but family and friends seriously discouraged us. It was a difficult time for me, but Fola was there, always showing up as a good friend. 

Fola: When they broke up a year later, I was still there. At some point, I told her I was still interested in her, but she was still not interested in me.

Jane: He didn鈥檛 give up. He just kept trying and showing up, but he didn’t force me. Two months after he asked me out the second time, he said, 鈥淗ey, ma. I love you, and I really want to do this thing with you. I’d love for us to get married, to be a couple, to date, all that.鈥� 

Fola: This woman told me to write a letter. 

Jane: And he did. I don’t think chivalry was dead at that time. He wrote me a love letter, and I still have it somewhere. 

Long story short, we got married in 2008.

Sharon, Single

I’ve heard about 鈥渇riendship love鈥� for a long time, but I had to experience it myself to fully understand how deep it could get.

Sometime in 2019, I was in a dark place. I was late on school fees payment, and it was close to graduation week. The school issued a letter stating anyone who didn’t complete their fees wouldn’t graduate with their set. That was very damning news to hear. Isn鈥檛 the whole point of going to school to graduate? And it wasn鈥檛 like I failed.

I confided in my friends 鈥� not exactly so they could help me, I was just giving them my regular life update. Then one day, I randomly received a huge sum of money. I was shocked. Where did it come from? I opened the alert notification and saw that it was from a friend. I wish I could relive how that felt. I just sat there and stared at the alert for a long time. I was crying; my heart was full of gratitude and happiness.

When I called, she was like, 鈥淚t’s nothing much. I just wanted to see how far it could go. I want to join in your faith that you鈥檒l pay your fees in time to graduate.鈥� I asked how she did it, and she said she鈥檇 been saving for it. She also took out of her personal savings to create this fund for me.

I thought, where did she even get my account number? She went out of her way to find my details and quietly sent me money. This was someone who鈥檇 just graduated from school, so she wasn’t exactly on her feet like that.

At the end of the day, that’s love.

Fatima, Married

I dated my first boyfriend in university, and we were together even after we graduated. Then he went to do his master鈥檚 abroad, and I saved up to go see him once. He鈥檇 proposed before he left, and we wanted to do a formal introduction, but my mother insisted I wasn’t running away, and he should come back first.

He eventually stayed abroad after his master鈥檚 and found love with somebody else. I felt like our eight years of relationship waka were wasted, and it really broke me. Then I met my current husband, and we didn’t even date for up to eight months. He assured me I was the one he wanted to marry.

We鈥檙e happily married with two kids now.

If you want to share your own Love Life story, fill out this .

Peju, Single

On Valentine鈥檚 Day 2023, my friends and I gathered at to share gifts and reassure ourselves that we鈥檇 always be there to support and roast each other.

One of us had just gotten out of a two-year situationship, another guy who was always forming hard guy had finally fallen in love with somebody we didn鈥檛 expect him to fall for, and another one had chopped serious breakfast though he was single. 

We shared these stories among ourselves, and it was just a beautiful moment of pure friendship filled with love.

Bobby, Single

My older brother has shown me love in amazing ways and shaped me into the person I am today, in terms of how I treat people.

In 2015, when he was still serving under NYSC, I told him I wanted a bike. I’ve always been more comfortable telling him stuff than my older sister or parents. He said he鈥檇 get back to me. Out of excitement and trust, I went and took my friend鈥檚 bike on credit. When he saw me using it, he asked where I got it from. I told him, and he was furious. He asked, 鈥淗ave I paid? Why did you take the bike?鈥�

I was sad because I thought he鈥檇 return it the next day when he was scheduled to return to his post in Osun State. I cried throughout the night, but when he was ready to travel, he actually gave me the money for the bike. This meant a lot to me because he showed me that I can always rely on him.

Olla and Diazno, Married

Olla: We met in 2014 and immediately hated each other because we were arguing about something. A few weeks later, he texted me, saying, 鈥淗ey, I don’t think we got off on the right foot. Can we actually get to know each other now?鈥� Then, we started talking.

Diazno: I was supposed to be her guitar teacher. But we never actually got around to the lessons until after we started dating. We became friends towards the end of 2014, got closer early in 2015, talked for months and became official in October 2015.

Olla: We were really young when we started dating. I was 18, and he was 20. But then, we got married five years later. 

In our first year, we would argue about weird stuff 鈥� mostly playful arguments because we didn’t want bitter fights. But when we sat down and talked about it, he’d do the things we talked about, sometimes even quicker than me. It鈥檚 been three years, and he鈥檚 still the same person, trying to always be better.

Diazno: All I can do is try.

I鈥檓 also her producer. She makes beautiful music, and I play the guitar for her on stage.

Olla: He鈥檚 always there to guide me. And in the darkest moments of my life, he鈥檚 been the most supportive person, doing his best to make my life better.

In 2022, I had a terrible illness, and this man took several loans to take care of the bills. It was draining us both and really eating into our finances. I knew he was overwhelmed, but he kept saying, 鈥淏abe, just get better. That鈥檚 all I want. I can always make this money back, but I can鈥檛 trade you for anything in this world.鈥�

I know for sure he鈥檒l do anything for me. He was shuffling between Germany and Nigeria until I moved to Germany to be with him in May 2021. I started school, and he got me this pretty Macbook. I felt it was too much. I honestly didn鈥檛 need a laptop that serious. Also, where did you get the money, oh boy?

Diazno: You deserve the finest things in life, and I plan to work hard to make that possible. 

Olla: The only sound in my head right now is 鈥淥jigbi jigbi jigbi鈥� because e pass butterflies.

Diazno: I鈥檓 just looking forward to several more years together with us living our best, healthiest life.

Check back every Thursday by 9 AM for new Love Life stories here. The stories will also be a part of the Ships newsletter, so sign up .

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You might find another booless person and bond over your love for his music. Isn鈥檛 that the start of a solid love story?

Tweet his lyrics at random

Tweeting his lyrics is like putting up a smoke signal that you鈥檙e looking for love. You鈥檒l be in a talking stage in no time, ready to get boo鈥檇 up.

Ask for his songs at the club

Go to a club and specifically ask the DJ to play Amen for you while you sing it at the top of your lungs. Find the first person to join you and marry them.

Manifest a relationship while listening to his music

This life is all about manifesting what you want. Use his music to channel your imaginative energy. Picture yourself dancing to his songs with the love of your life on your wedding day. It鈥檒l happen in no time.

Have a 鈥淏oo of the Booless鈥� sticker on your car

This is free game we鈥檙e giving you. If you come out single at the other end, don鈥檛 blame it on us, and don鈥檛 blame it on Chike. It鈥檚 definitely your village people.

Attend his Trace Live concert

After you鈥檝e done all those things, don鈥檛 forget to attend the next edition of Trace Live where he鈥檒l be performing. You already know his music will have you in your feels, and what better state to meet the love of your life? 

It鈥檚 happening on the 4th of August at the Terra Kulture Arena by 7 pm. It鈥檚 your chance to get boo鈥檇 up, and you can鈥檛 afford to miss it.

Chike has consistently sung about love, creating sweet melodies and authentic romantic lines to rinse and repeat when words fail you in your relationship. He does no different on his latest. But this time, we鈥檝e taken notes to share with you all the necessary ingredients to making a sweet love song, so you can express your own romantic feelings to your partner. 

Chike comes prepared to be thrown into a lifelong commitment on the heartfelt Ego Oyibo, produced by DeeYasso, who was behind his other jams, Nwoke Oma, Spell and Hard To Find. This love record has a calm ambience, and yours should too. For more authenticity, highlife is the goal, sprinkled with some guitar strings and local percussion. By the time you want to lay your love lyrics, it鈥檇 sound like you’re already sharing palmwine with your father-in-law.

When writing your lyrics, you have the license to be poetic, so go deep. Abandon the “Baby, take banana. I’ll take you to Ghana” lambas for now. Think of all the good things you feel for your lover and write them down. Maintain the Duke of Hastings鈥� swag (Bridgerton).

Remember, there’s no language barrier. You can choose to write your love song in English, Igbo and Pidgin like Chike did on Ego Oyibo. Your babe will see a multilingual hottie; their parents will see a person of culture who respects their elders.

Let your babe know how you’ve been a good spouse material. Did she forget you gave her dad dollars and promised her mum you’d always be there? In the same line, confess your love and compel her to never leave you alone. Apply the KISS method: Keep It Simple and Stupid. So, simple language and repetitive lines. Keep your verses short but stacked with compliments, endearments and heartwarming promises like giving her your money from January to December and letting nothing distract you in Lagos. Not the beautiful women, not the nightlife or the enticing BBL. It shows you’re an intentional man.

N.B: Ensure there are backup vocalists adding sweeteners to your performance to make it a delicious serve.

Gangs of Lagos, Amazon Prime’s first Nollywood feature, follows three friends played by Tobi Bakre, Adesua Etomi-Wellington and Chike, as they navigate life, and well, gangs in Lagos’ notorious Isale Eko. With political elements playing a strong factor in the film, it seems like kismet when I chat with Chike mere days after saw thousands of people disenfranchised and hurt. 

“You can’t preach democracy and force at the same time,” Chike explained when the topic of the elections came up. “I kept hoping that maybe this time we’d get it right, but there are still a lot of people who don’t want the betterment of the country.” 

But elections can鈥檛 dampen the feeling of being a leading man as Chike gets into the process behind his big screen transition, the pressure to match the genius of Boo of the Booless and why he named his latest album, The Brother’s Keeper. 

Tell me everything you can about Gangs of Lagos and what you thought when Jade hit you up to join the project

If Jade calls you for a project, you jump on it because you know it’ll be good. I’d already worked with her on a project I can’t talk about before she asked me to do Gangs of Lagos. I guess I delivered on that one, so she decided to give me something more challenging. I remember being impressed by the script and having questions about how we’d pull off such a large scale production, but then I remembered it’s Jade, and she always puts out the best projects. 

I play Ify, a carefree guy who鈥檚 kind of naive鈥’m trying to tell you what I can without giving away too much. He’s surrounded by love from his family and friends in Isale Eko, but bad things happen to him as a result of his naivety. He’s just a guy trying to navigate life on the streets. 

What was the most challenging part of shooting the film? 

I won’t spoil it for anyone, but a very emotional scene in the movie really got to me. I didn’t have any lines or anything, so I just had to be present and listen to all the other actors perform. They were saying these really heavy things and giving striking performances that I didn’t know when I started getting emotional. 

You’ll know this scene as soon as it comes up in the movie, but omo, it was the toughest scene for me to shoot throughout our production. 

Making music is one thing, but I’m curious about what you learn about yourself when you attempt to become someone else as an actor

So one of the major personality traits I realised I shared with my character was that we’re both carefree. Outside of that, acting in Gangs of Lagos allowed me to do things I wouldn’t do as Chike and understand how life would be different if they were my choices. 

I got to see different parts of myself as a person. Could my life have gone differently, or could I have ended up as the guy I’m playing if my choices were different? But the most exciting thing about acting is I can do the wildest things and not get judged for it because it’s not real life. It’s not every job that gives you the freedom to be someone completely different every time. 

RECOMMENDED: Everything You Need to Know About Jade Osiberu鈥檚 鈥淕angs of Lagos鈥�

Talking about music, what was going through your mind when you made your 2022 album, The Brother’s Keeper, especially after the success of 2020’s Boo of the Booless

I was a completely different artiste when I made Boo of the Booless. I know a couple of people knew me before the album, but it’s not like I had an existing fanbase or anything like that. But then the album came out, and things changed. Making a new album, I knew millions of people would be listening, and it could’ve either made me bold or scared. But all I knew was I couldn’t stop. I needed to make music. 

I didn’t consciously try for The Brother’s Keeper to be different. It was just a more confident album because I became a more confident artiste making it. People knew my music now. It wasn’t just friends and family telling me, “You’re a good singer. One day, you go make am.” 

Nigerians love music that’ll make us dance even when it’s sad 鈥� look at Burna Boy’s Last Last and Omah Lay’s Soso. But you tend to make stripped-down emotional songs about hurt, love and fame. Why do you gravitate towards songs like that? 

I read somewhere that it’s important to write what’s true to you, and that’s what I try to do as an artiste. I make sure I write down experiences and situations peculiar to me. I call my music 鈥渁fro-stories鈥� because my songs are my stories. For example, Please is about the fear that not all good things last. I could have a good run right now as a performer, but who knows how long it鈥檒l last? So Please is just me praying, 鈥淢ake my own no spoil鈥�. 

If my song is not about how I’m feeling now, it’s about what I felt before or how I’d react to a situation I’ve heard of. I don’t doubt that the music I’m making will find an audience. I’d have quit by now if I had doubts. My ultimate goal is to make music that’s realistic to me. 

Help me understand why this album is called The Brother’s Keeper. Who is this brother? What is he keeping? And where can I find it? Three questions, but you get my gist. 

People think it’s the album’s theme, but it’s not. The title was more of a representation of who I’d become as a person, not necessarily about the songs on the album. I’m my brother’s keeper, so the album is a: “The Brother’s Keeper presents you with these songs”, not “These songs are about being your brother’s keeper”. 

The remix of Spell with Oxlade is out right now. What inspires your collaborations? 

Collaborations are always about the music for me. What can I do to make this song better? If I can hear someone on a song in my head, I’ll reach out and try to get them to jump on it. Going with an artiste who elevates my song is the first and last step in deciding on a collaboration for me. 

Interestingly, I didn’t go after Oxlade for the remix of Spell. Oxlade is my guy, and we share the same producer. He heard the song at our producer’s place and decided to do something on it. He called me after and told me about it. My team and I loved his input. This was before the album even dropped. But we held on to the remix because I wanted to release it later. I have a thing for extending the lifespan of my work. LOL. 

What’s next for our brother’s keeper? 

I’m still determining, but we might make a video for Enough and put that out soon. I’ll put out new music if we don’t do that. 

Another album? 

Abeg o. I said I鈥檒l put out new music. I didn’t say “album”. New music could be a single. Last last, everyone will get new music. 

ALSO READ: Here鈥檚 How to Plan the Perfect 鈥淕angs of Lagos鈥� Watch Party

Chike 鈥� “Finders Keepers”

Thanks to his jaw-dropping audition, Chike became an instant favourite on the first season of The Voice Nigeria. While he might not have won the show, he certainly made a vital impression.

Now, after dropping a bunch of severely underrated singles, he鈥檚 come through with his confident debut album, Boo of the Booless, which includes the fantastic 鈥淔inders Keepers鈥�.

On the standout track, Chike is looking to inspire, singing about having faith that we鈥檒l all eventually find what we are looking for. It鈥檚 a delightful feel-good song on an equally feel-good album.

11. A’rese’s winning performance of Jeff Buckley’s ‘Hallelujah’:

10. Dewe’s impressive version of Bez’s ‘There’s A Fire’:

9. Cornel’s powerful performance of Bryan Adams’ ‘Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman’:

8. Vicky’s soothing rendition of Adele’s ‘To Make You Feel My Love’:

7. David Operah’s beautiful performance of R. Kelly’s ‘I Believe I Can Fly’:

6. Michael’s incredibly smooth performance of Luther Vandross’ ‘Never Too Much’:

5. Vicky’s surprising performance of Sia’s ‘Elastic Heart’:

4. Chike’s wonderful spin on The Proclaimer’s ‘500 MIles’:

3. Nonso Bassey’s incredible version of Shontelle’s ‘Impossible’:

2. Brenda’s showstopping version of Meghan Trainor’s ‘All About The Bass’:

1. Promise’s perfect rendition of Flavour’s ‘Golibe’:

2. When you heard The Voice ‘NIGERIA’ is being held in South Africa.

3. When a contestant tries to add a ‘Nigerian twist’ to a song and goes off key.

4. Babes, whenever Chike starts performing:

5. Everyone, impatiently waiting for Cornel to come and perform:

6. Your face, whenever Timi Dakolo stands up to talk.

7. Waje’s default face whenever a contestant is performing:

8. When Tuface hasn’t said “I’m short of words” in 5 minutes.

9. Your face, whenever Timi Dakolo saves Vicky:

10. When the backup singers are singing better than the contestant they are ‘backing up’.

11. When the backup singers that just sounded great suddenly start singing like they are owing them salary.

12. You, wondering where the contestants stylist learnt work.

13. When the contestant sings nonsense and the judges still praise them.

14. The Voice Nigeria contestants and singing R Kelly:

15. You, when a contestant picks a Sia or Adele song:

16. When a contestant you never noticed just comes and slays their performance.

17. How you react when the viewers save the wrong person: