Ruger is back with two new banging tunes, addressing two sides to his persona, (1) his toxic romantic lifestyle (Red Flags) and (2) his desire, scrap that, his authoritative stamp on the music scene, so bold he proclaims himself Asiwaju (translating to ‘the one who leads’ in English). Both track are released individually as opposed to the now popular “2-song pack’ artistes use.
Below is a breakdown of each track:
• Red Flags
On Red Flags, Ruger is not scared to break the heart of his current lover (or maybe fling or link-up) in search of other “b–ches”. He does this unremorsefully with the assurance that many other females are willing to keep him company.
Despite being an unprovoked toxic lover, not being candid about his emotions does not seem to be one of the tricks in Ruger’s bag; he openly admits to being the problem in Red Flags. He sings in verse 2: “Ah, baby girl no time, you gotta end this now / Let’s stop lying, omo saying nah truth, oh I no fi settle down / . . . / I’m a billion reasons why we can’t work, oh baby”.
Consider Red Flags a break-up note for Ruger makes clear his intentions from the get-go, singing to the fact that he never meant for the relationship to be a long-time affair, so much he advises his soon-to-be ex-lover not to ruminate over their breaking up, rather moving on would be the best thing for her because “Time’s not on your side”.
No doubt, Ruger’s sudden break-up statement will have his soon-to-be ex-lover in shock. She questions his intents and purposes for acting in such a manner, ““She said, “Ru, baby ye, this ain’t you, you’re not the sweet guy I once knew” / “Tell me what changed, did I do anything wrong, or you just don’t love me anymore? / “She said, “Ru, baby ye, this ain’t you, you’re not the sweet guy I once knew” / “Why did you change so bad towards me, you’ve been treating me like shit?””, she sadly demands to know but Ruger dismisses her curiosity by gaslighting her, “You saw the red flags baby, but you ignored the red flags / Yeah, yeah, baby you gon dey vex / See I can change, baby you better rest or you end this now”.
Red Flags is produced by UK-based producer TSB and the release is accompanied by a stunning visual.
• Asiwaju
The desire to be great is one of the qualities that aid the advancement of man. Ruger is not exempted. He knows the cloth he is cut from and more so, the quality of that cloth. Since his introduction to the mainstream music world in January of 2021, he has been nothing but amazing, putting out tip-top music and serving the world hits forthrightly. It is only right, he toots his horns as he declares himself the leader of his class (the ‘new generation’ acts) on Asiwaju.
“See, I’m ahead of them, asiwaju / I’m a fucking baller, Ighalo ni mi / No man fit talk shit to me / Ni’lu mi, you go collect oh / See, omo na me dey lead, asiwaju”, he sounds off on the chorus, even relating his sharpness to Nigeria’s football team first-choice striker, Odion Ighalo.
Ruger deems himself advanced in age and achievement (even though he is just a year deep in the industry) and demands to be addressed fittingly. He proclaims: “I’m your daddy, I’m your uncle, I’m your popsy / I be old man, no go dey call me “Gen Z””.
Ruger returns to his top horse beat-maker, Kukbeatz for this jam.
On both songs, Ruger delivers impressive songwriting skill, even colouring it with prime storytelling on Red Flags. His vocal intonations also add to the beauty of both songs.