This is the last Nigerian artist who is allowed to work on her own time

Asa took her time to come up with her last album “Bed Of Stone.” The singer who is revered like a goddess in Nigeria and beyond, took an extended break for four years before she served new music. Before “Bed of Stone”, her previous work was 2010’s “Beautiful Imperfection.”

And fans waited for it. Sadly, she is one of the few musicians in Nigeria who can perform a disappearing act.

There are certain artists who are worth the wait. These are artists who take forever between projects, and disappear for a long time to create art. Then they show up with a bang, and everyone is hooked on to them again. But those artists are few in Nigeria, and each day, that number continues to dwindle.

Asa is one of them, perhaps the only one of them in Nigeria. Her music, which is both ethereal and timeless is generally accepted to be a blessing worth the wait. You don’t rush a goddess at work. You keep vigil at the gates of her shrine until she descends from the heavens to spread her love and light all around you.

But while Asa enjoys this privilege, she appears to be a part of a dying breed of artists who feed mainstream Nigeria at their own pace. The system is designed to pressure artists into flooding the world with music.

We are in an age of surplus, where hyper-information and access to everything has broadened our music tastes and expanded the horizons of the sounds that we consume. A consequence of this is that artists can now access fans directly via social media sharing and digital marketing. This has directly increased competition in the industry, and artists only compete with their music.

A pop artist who takes a break from the circle for music releases for a year, will find himself behind the times. Those who release music with no gimmick still find themselves pushed further behind the curve and lose out.

Nobody waits for anyone. Nobody really cares. An artist is only as hot as their last hit song.

But Asa’s music has elevated her above this dynamic. The quality of her sounds and the impact of her brand has afforded her the freedom to embark on her creative projects when she wants it.

It’s 2017, three years after “Bed Of Stone” was released. Olamide has dropped three albums in that time, Davido has an EP, and is working on an album, Wizkid has a project coming out this week.

But Asa is under no pressure. She drops when she wants, unbothered by all the activity around her. And as you cast your eyes across the industry, it slowly hits you that she is the only one with such a privilege.