There’s a gap of over 12 years between the ascents of Wizkid and Asake, but their spellbinding breakthroughs mirror one another, rising from inner-city backgrounds in Surulere and Lagos Island to become definitive voices of their generation. Thanks to a dizzying command of melody, language and imagery they are unflinching ambassadors of Lagos and the culture powering Afrobeats, and the arrival of their joint tape REAL, Vol. 1 presents like-minded superpowers coming together for the greater good. The pair glide over a nifty amapiano-adjacent instrumental on “Iskolodo”, flexing their outsized success and the access it grants them. On “Jogodo”, frequent Asake collaborator Magicsticks helps bolster the extemporaneous edge that allowed the singer to reset the sonics of Afrobeats circa 2022. And even when that mood threatens to darken, as on “Turbulence”, the pair manage to shift focus back to their shared luxurious lifestyle atop an intoxicating meld of log drums and strings. Two years after their “MMS” collaboration, Wizkid and Asake deliver a glistening heat check that is as much a meeting of distinct generations as it is a wholehearted celebration of their origins.