When Zinoleesky first appeared in 2019 with a run of viral freestyles and the breakout single “Kilofeshe,” his appeal rested on candour as much as melody. Six years later that instinct for plain-spoken storytelling anchors ‘Gen Z’, his debut album.
The 16-track project arrives after two years of recording sessions split between Lagos and London and is pitched as both a coming-of-age document and a sideways look at an online generation. Whether it succeeds on those terms will be for listeners to decide, but the record offers several clear entry points.
First, the production palette is wider than on Zinoleesky’s previous EPs. Long-time collaborators Babybeats and Niphkeys still provide airy, amapiano-leaning grooves, but UK hit-maker JAE5 and Lekaa Beats add subtly heavier drums and polished string lines. The result is a sound that holds its Lagos street-pop DNA while flirting with alté, R&B and even trap cadences.
Lead singles “Element,” “Fuji Garbage” and “Abanikanda” test those boundaries: the first leans into sandy percussion and filtered vocal samples, the second folds fuji inflections into a minor-key piano loop, and the third straddles mid-tempo afropop and dancehall bounce. None of it feels radical, but each track shows a performer willing to tinker with a formula that has brought more than one billion streams to date.
Lyrically, Gen Z balances confidence with introspection. Up-tempo cuts “Lifestyle” and “Steph Curry” reaffirm Zinoleesky’s attraction to aspirational imagery—expensive trainers, late-night studio sessions, the grinding mentality familiar across afrobeats.
Yet songs such as “Gifted” and “Born Survivor” turn that swagger inward, referencing the pressure that accompanies online visibility and, in the singer’s case, recent fatherhood. The guest list broadens those perspectives.
Ms Banks slips into Yoruba-English code-switching on “Ayamase,” while Jamaican vocalist D’Yani adds a roots-pop lilt to “Born Survivor.” Elsewhere, Donae’o’s house-funk inflection on “Doctor” and Toosii’s melodic rap on “Suit and Tie” underscore Zinoleesky’s stated aim of connecting street-pop to global club culture.
The strongest thematic through-line is escapism: the press notes emphasise Zinoleesky’s love of gaming and describe the album as an “alternate reality.” That concept is most explicit on “Movie,” where 8-bit synth flourishes colour lyrics about success as both thrill and isolation, and on “Jollof,” a lighter track that turns comfort food into a metaphor for cultural grounding amid constant travel.
Whether casual listeners will register the afro-futurist framing or simply hear a run of tightly written singles remains an open question, but the attempt adds a narrative layer often missing from commercial afropop releases.
Ultimately ‘Gen Z’ neither discards nor wholly repeats Zinoleesky’s past. Instead it distills the melodic immediacy that drew early fans and situates it in a broader, slightly riskier soundscape. The album may not redefine afrobeats, yet it captures a 25-year-old artist trying to reconcile viral momentum, genre experimentation and new personal responsibilities. In that sense, ‘Gen Z’ functions much like its title suggests: a snapshot of transition—messy, ambitious and, above all, in motion.
Listen to ‘Gen Z’ below!
