FOLA’s Sophomore Album Is Here. Listen!

FOLA‘s sophomore album, ‘9‘, is out now! The album includes a mix of familiar tracks and exciting collaborations that fans are eagerly anticipating. It features “Treat U Right” with Ayra Starr, “Attention!”, “Fine Ting (Fine $hit)”, and “It’s Over,” which includes contributions from Bella Shmurda and Zlatan. FOLA also recently released “Miss U II (Nriri),” providing listeners with another preview of the project before the complete tracklist was revealed. Additionally, there are new collaborations such as “2am In Toronto” featuring Davido, “My Type” featuring BNXN, and “Hold U Down” featuring Darkoo. ‘9‘ follows FOLA’s 2025 debut album, Catharsis, and marks his next major chapter. The album title has a football reference at its centre, inspired by the classic number 9 striker whose job is to come through when the team needs a goal. For FOLA, that becomes a fitting metaphor for the artist you call when you need a guaranteed hit. As an artist who has had an amazing run since his breakout, providing hit after hit, it is a fitting title for an album. The album is out now. Listen! Ifowodo’s win adds to a distinguished literary career spanning several decades. His other poetry collections include Homeland and Other Poems, which won the 1993 Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Poetry Prize; Madiba, which won the 2003 ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize; The Oil Lamp, which won the 2005 ANA/Gabriel Okara Poetry Prize; and A Good Mourning, which was shortlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2017. The 2026 edition of the Nigeria Prize for Literature focused on poetry and attracted 223 submissions. Ifowodo’s winning collection emerged from a final shortlist that included James Ngwu Eze’s Unbind Me Now and Tares Oburumu’s Flora’s Love Colony. NLNG’s Nigerian Prize for Literature is the biggest literary award on the continent, and the award comes with a $100,000 cash prize.