Olamide will release his forthcoming album, Carpe Diem, on Oct. 8 through a new partnership between his long-running YBNL Nation imprint and U.S. indie powerhouse, EMPIRE.
The project features collaborations with proteges, disciples and friends from Nigeria’s music scene including Fireboy DML, Omah Lay, Peruzzi, Phyno, Bella Shumrda and Bad Boy Timz.

18-year-old prodigy P.Priime (Fireboy DML, DJ Cuppy) produces the majority of the tracks on Carpe Diem, with the remainder coming from a production squad of Pheelz, VStix, ID Cabasa and Young Jonn.

Widely regarded as the Voice of Nigeria’s streets, Olamide is among the most successful and acclaimed hip-hop acts from Africa, with over 430 million streams of his music to date.

Through YBNL Nation, founded in 2012, he’s launched the careers of some of Nigeria’s biggest afropop and rap stars including Fireboy DML, Adekunle Gold and Lil Kesh.

Carpe Diem is OLAMIDÉ’s first full-length album since aligning YBNL with EMPIRE; the partnership has already produced OLAMIDÉ’s 999 EP, released in February, as well as Fireboy DML’s highly-celebrated Apollo album.

Known for multilingual tracks which showcase his ability to rap and sing in English, Yoruba and Pidgin, OLAMIDÉ broadens his musical horizons on Carpe Diem, exploring new influences and his range as a vocalist.

“The project is a reflection of my mind, and also the current sound brewing underground in Nigeria,” OLAMIDÉ says. “It’s a combination of a lot of traditional elements and also a sound from way back in Nigeria called galala, which has a little bit of reggae/dancehall. It’s also a fusion of something we call Celestial, which is when you are playing secular music in church. It’s like taking pop to the church.”