Ayo Maff was born in the early 2000s. He rose to fame this year with his Dealer song and quickly became the face of the streets.
By any standard, he has a good shot at being the breakout star of the year. He’s been very intentional about his creativity and branding, cultivating a cult-like following and calling them Maffians.
Most street pop acts tend to be very predictable. Maybe they’re just happy to make it out of the trenches. Maybe there’s a lack of guidance in that space. It could be that there are not enough templates and mechanisms to borrow from and put together a solid brand. That’s why there’s always a popping street act, but every year the person changes.
There’s always a new voice of the streets, but the voices change quickly.
They mostly rise to fame with a hit record, perform everywhere, make some money and then try to keep up with the pace of the game. Bar a few, the regular street act doesn’t evolve or reinvent. In a space where there’s a demand for constant evolution, this is almost always the beginning of the end for them.
Ayo Maff seems to have studied these things and is trying to be different. Either he is very observant and intentional about his career direction, or someone on his team is. Either way, it’s working for him. He’s associated the colours green and red with his brand.
You almost always see him in a bandana, and he’s also very thuggish in his videos in the most polished way. He’s also very intentional about curating his fan base, identifying and feeding all their needs, even the ones they do not know they possess.
After his hit record with Fireboy Dml, he dropped his Maffian EP. A success on DSPs and the streets, the project and single took him to the O2 Arena.
Shortly after, Ayo Maff was involved in a three-way collaboration with LAX and Taves. The choice of collaboration is exquisite as it aligns him with new audiences to break into.
Earlier this week, Ayo Maff announced the release of his comic book, Chronicles of Samurai Maff. He announced that the comic is now available to the public and it’d be free in a trailer posted on his social media platforms. Not only is this a genius idea, but the fact that it’s coming from a street pop act is mesmerizing.
Comics have been a part of his generation’s relationship with media for a long time. From the cartoons we watched on TV, to the comic books of these superstars we read and coloured, we’ve been very familiar with.
Back in the day, Super Strikas was the cool thing to be involved with. Whether you were getting them from Texaco filling stations or GT bank outlets, everyone loved the Supa Strikas comic. It was a hit and one of the most-read books in the country at the time.
Over time, the culture of comics would be abandoned and forgotten. One would expect the biggest Afrobeats acts to have put together something for themselves in this regard, but nobody seems to care about the art.
Other forms of selling the brand have been neglected for just the music. We rarely see documentaries, the merchandise our artists put out is basic, uninspiring and expensive, and nobody cares enough to connect with home anymore.
Our superstars can’t tour the country, and they don’t bother to find a way to reach the people apart from their music. Ayo Maff seems to be thinking differently, and I commend him for this.
The last time we saw artists allow fans like they possess a part of them on a grand scale was when Wizkid collaborated with Nike to make Starboy jerseys. That a street pop act has a comic that has the possibility of going viral, is a step in the right direction that births new possibilities.
The comic Chronicles of Samurai Maff looks to be very in tune with the Nigerian language and reality. From what we can see, Ayo Maff is chosen to tackle the country’s leader and free the people from their problems.
A personal highlight is that the narrator is Nigerian and sounds like a Nigerian. The comic illustrated by Ukiyo Studios promises to be something different and unique and is set to usher in a breath of fresh air.
