Nigerian rapper Blaqbonez has shared the stories behind his hit collaborations with Asake, explaining how the two songs came together in different circumstances before reaching the top of Nigerian music charts. In an account published on Memories FM, a platform that archives artists' personal stories about their music, Blaqbonez revealed that he recorded ‘Chanel’ in Lagos in February 2026. He said he makes music almost every day and did not initially consider the song extraordinary.
Blaqbonez did not think he had made anything particularly special when he recorded ‘Chanel’. It took a night out in London and the reaction of a small group of people to make him realise the song could become something bigger. He travelled to London for a show in April and took about 20 people from the show to Doña, an underground bar in Dalston. A cousin who worked there had offered to open the venue for the gathering.
At the London bar, Blaqbonez played some unreleased music through the bar's sound system, and ‘Chanel’ quickly caught everyone's attention. People kept asking him to play it again. Encouraged by the reaction, he recorded a video of himself enjoying the song the following day and shared it online. The video gained significant attention, giving him a clearer idea of the record's potential.
He eventually sent the song to Asake through Instagram. The pair had discussed working together before, but Blaqbonez had been waiting for the right record to send him. They later met in Nigeria to record the collaboration before travelling to London to shoot its music video. The song went on to reach No. 1 on the Apple Music Nigeria Top Songs Chart and has accumulated more than 25.7 million streams on Spotify.
The story behind ‘Ikebe 3000’ began in June 2026, when Blaqbonez recorded its first version at a friend's studio in Lagos. Unlike the London gathering that helped him recognise ‘Chanel's’ potential, this session was memorable for a less glamorous reason. The studio had no air conditioning, and the heat became so uncomfortable that those recording had to take off their shirts.
Asake was in Los Angeles after a show when Blaqbonez sent him the song. According to the rapper, he woke up to a call from Asake playing the verse he had just recorded. The turnaround took less than 24 hours, he said. Blaqbonez said the pair experimented with South African Gqom influences while working on the record, adding that they did not know how big it would eventually become.
‘Ikebe 3000’ went on to top both the Spotify Nigeria Songs Chart and Apple Music Nigeria Songs Chart. It also debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, giving the collaboration another significant milestone. Interestingly, Blaqbonez revealed that ‘Ikebe 3000’ is Asake's favourite collaboration among the songs they have made together.
Key points
- Blaqbonez and Asake's collaborations 'Chanel' and 'Ikebe 3000' have achieved significant success in Nigerian music charts.
