Nigerian singer FOLA has released his second studio album, 9, bringing together collaborations with Davido, Ayra Starr, BNXN, Darkoo, Bella Shmurda and Zlatan.
The album arrived on Friday, 9 October. Its Apple Music listing confirms 14 tracks, a running time of approximately 39 minutes and a release through Dangbana Republik Records and EMPIRE. music.apple.com
Six guests across five collaborations
Davido appears on ‘2am in Toronto’, while Ayra Starr joins FOLA on ‘Treat U Right’. BNXN features on ‘My Type’, and Darkoo contributes to ‘Hold U Down’.
Bella Shmurda and Zlatan share the closing collaboration, ‘It’s Over’. Other songs include ‘Awade’, ‘Stubborn’, ‘In Order’, ‘Attention!’ and ‘Miss U II (Nriri)’.
Several tracks were available ahead of the full album, including ‘Treat U Right’, ‘Attention!’ and ‘It’s Over’, according to BellaNaija’s release coverage. (bellanaija.com)
The football reference behind ‘9’
Apple Music’s accompanying editorial notes explain that the title refers to the number traditionally associated with a goalscoring striker. The platform links that reference to FOLA’s experience playing the position while growing up in Ibadan.
Its notes also identify ‘Crime’ as a reinterpretation of 2Baba’s ‘If Love Is a Crime’, connecting the project with an earlier generation of Nigerian pop music. (music.apple.com)
Follow-up to ‘Catharsis’
The new release follows FOLA’s debut album, Catharsis, which Apple Music dates to 5 September 2025. That project contained 11 songs and ran for approximately 28 minutes.
Listeners can access 9 through EMPIRE’s official release page, which provides links to music services. (music.apple.com, music.empi.re)
