If you’ve been online long enough, you already know the “money over everything” aesthetic is getting tired. Everyone is rich. Everyone is “up.” Everyone is posting cryptic captions in designer shades while acting emotionally unavailable. But on Asake M$NEY album, he does something slightly different. He still talks wealth, still flexes success, still sounds expensive right?… but underneath all the log drums and choir vocals, there’s a strange heaviness sitting inside the album.

And that’s what makes this Asake’s M$NEY album review interesting… and quite different from other reviews

This doesn’t sound like an artist trying to prove he made it anymore. It sounds like somebody asking what comes after.

After leaving YBNL Nation and launching his own imprint, Giran Republic, M$NEY arrives with the pressure of reinvention attached to it. Critics expected evolution. Fans expected another run of chaotic street anthems. Instead, Asake gives us something softer, moodier, and way more spiritual than expected.

Pitchfork described the project as “beautiful” but emotionally safe, criticizing its lack of grit compared to older Asake records. Meanwhile, Shatter the Standards saw the album differently, calling it “prayer pop” and framing it as a meditation on spirituality, money, and ambition colliding in real time.

Honestly, both takes are right.

Because while M$NEY does lose some of the raw unpredictability that made albums like Work of Art and Mr. Money With the Vibe feel explosive, it replaces that chaos with reflection. Not perfect reflection. Not deeply lyrical introspection. But enough vulnerability to make you pause between the basslines.

Tracks like Tracks like “Forgiveness” hit differently hit differently because Asake sounds less like a superstar and more like a guy staring at the ceiling at 2AM trying to make peace with himself. He admits mistakes casually, almost recklessly, before slipping back into flexes and prayerful affirmations. It feels human messy… contradictory, and maybe that contradiction is the whole point of the album.

One minute he’s talking about blessings and alignment. The next minute he’s celebrating wealth with the same intensity people use during thanksgiving testimonies. The line between spiritual gratitude and material obsession gets intentionally blurry throughout the project. That tension gives M$NEY its identity.

What The Vibe On The Album Is Like

If his previous work felt like the rush of a Lagos Danfo at peak hour, M$NEY is the silence of a business class lounge. It’s polished. It’s airy. It’s expensive. As noted by The Native Mag, the project is a “gorgeous pastiche” of gratitude and opulence. But with that sheen comes a trade-off: the grit that made us fall in love with him seems to have been buffed away.

Sonically, the album still carries Asake’s signature fusion of Afropiano, Fuji influences, choir harmonies, and hypnotic percussion (shout out to The Soweto Gospel Choir for that powerful Intro track)

Asake's M$NEY album

The production on Asake M$NEY album, spearheaded by the wizardry of Magicsticks, is undeniably the MVP here. Tracks like “Rora” and “Oba” trade the frantic energy of street-pop for a “jazz-soaked haze” that feels more at home in an Ibiza sunset set than a Mainland block party.

You May Also Like: Omah Lay’s Clarity of Mind Album Review

The Independent Era: Giran Republic

The shadow of Olamide is long, and Asake M$NEY album is his attempt to step out of it completely. It’s a brave move. Starting Giran Republic gave him the freedom to experiment with live instrumentation and gospel frameworks.

Asake's M$NEY album

However, being your own boss means nobody tells you when a track is “too safe” or not “commercial enough.” While the album is his most cohesive to date, critics at Shatter the Standards suggest that the lack of friction might make it less “sticky” than his earlier era-defining hits.

Final Verdict: Is It Worth Your Streams?

M$NEY is a sensorially dense experience. It’s for the long drives, the contemplative mornings, and the high-end lounges. It might lack the “Lamba” that set the club on fire in 2022, but it possesses a palpable sense of whimsy and spiritual peace.

My main Takeaway: Asake M$NEY album shows us Asake is now playing a different game. He’s not fighting for a seat at the table; he’s designing the whole room.

Tell us what your favourite track is off the album in the comment section.